[Air-L] How to calculate survey sample size for multiple social media platforms?

[Ellis Godard]

For conventional formulas for calculating a minimum required sample size, you don't need to know (or even estimate) a population size, since the point is to have a sample large enough to normalize the sampling distribution. (If those last seven words doesn't make sense, you should hesitate to make inferential claims from your data.) But you do need to assume a randomly selected sample, and if the surveys are "handed {sic} out" via four online routes, it definitely won't be. :)

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Air-L <air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org> On Behalf Of Matt Erlandsen
> Sent: Monday, July 6, 2020 10:06 AM
> To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
> Subject: [Air-L] How to calculate survey sample size for multiple social media
> platforms?
> 
> Hello everybody,
> 
> Hopefully you are all safe and sound.
> 
> I need to conduct an online survey, which will be handed out through
> Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the website of a local online newspaper.
> 
> My objective is to reach their audience as a whole, yet I am confused and
> lost about how to calculate the survey sample size having in consideration
> that:
> 
> 1) There are fans from Facebook and followers in Instagram who are the same
> person (but of course I cannot match them to filter them out);
> 
> 2) What number should I use as a population in order to calculate the
> sample size --i.e Facebook fans, Twitter followers, Instagram followers,
> web page visitors, or a sum of all of those, an average of all of those,
> should I calculate and therefore run one survey sample size for each
> platform/source?
> 
> If you could give me any input/feedback on this I will be very glad.
> 
> Thanks a lot.
> 
> 
> *Matt Erlandsen*
> *Estudiante Doctorado en Ciencias de la Comunicación*
> *PhD Student of Communication Sciences*
> Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
> +56 (9) 8218-5055
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