# I need some ideas on gathering my samples for a survey **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 17, 2024, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-ideas-on-gathering-my-samples-for-a-survey/1001695 "2024-05-17T13:12:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2024, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-ideas-on-gathering-my-samples-for-a-survey/1001695/41 "2024-05-18T12:51:21Z")
So if I’m understanding - you basically want real-world data and are not worried about some skews in the data becuse of biased samples? More important to get the range of answers that “pulling the data out of thin air” simply can’t get? > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Go to ethnic fast food restaurants and hope that a decent fraction of the client’s are of that ethnicity. Ask people waiting in line if they are willing to answer a brief survey. Accept that you will oversample anglos, and just throw out a random sample of excess data. This is one of the better suggestions for person-to-person interactions. Plenty of others - i.e. for middle eastern, go to a mosque, maybe ask for help from the local cleric. There are also some churches that cater to an ethnic group - I recall seeing a Korean Christian church in my wanderings. Most universities have student clubs for assorted ethnic groups. Outside a concert venue for a particluar artist of interest or other cultural event. (I see a lot of signs advertising concerts and events for Indians in my area, this being Canada and Indians heavily represented in immigrant populations). Are there “cultural centers” for vaious grups in your area? Grocery stores catering to certain ethnic groups? I’m more biased toward university groups because people working toward a more advanced career have probably given more thought to (or experience with) what barriers they will encounter to moving up in society, and thus give more focussed answers. If these are not locally available, I wonder if you could connect with the members of such groups in several universities. (Probably would also more inclined to understand and help with an academic exercise) Also, given the discussion in this thread, a short concise preamble explaining what “equity” means, as part of the question, would be preferable. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2024, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-ideas-on-gathering-my-samples-for-a-survey/1001695/42 "2024-05-18T14:19:10Z")
Or perhaps the OP could have left out the question as it wasn’t relevant to what was being asked and seemed to sidetrack the responses? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2024, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-ideas-on-gathering-my-samples-for-a-survey/1001695/43 "2024-05-18T15:05:46Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > So if I’m understanding - you basically want real-world data and are not worried about some skews in the data becuse of biased samples? More important to get the range of answers that “pulling the data out of thin air” simply can’t get? Exactly! ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2024, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-ideas-on-gathering-my-samples-for-a-survey/1001695/44 "2024-05-18T22:19:14Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > > [@puzzlegal](#): > > > > Go to ethnic fast food restaurants and hope that a decent fraction of the client’s are of that ethnicity. Ask people waiting in line if they are willing to answer a brief survey. Accept that you will oversample anglos, and just throw out a random sample of excess data. > > This is one of the better suggestions for person-to-person interactions. Plenty of others - i.e. for middle eastern, go to a mosque, maybe ask for help from the local cleric Yes, this is a good suggestion, but there are some pretty big pitfalls. I had a whole couple of paragraphs written about it on one of my previous posts, but I deleted it because it got too rambly. I’ll try to be brief. It is easy to be inadvertently culturally insensitive (and at worst offensive) when contacting different groups at their community’s gathering places when you are not a member of that group. It is best to work with members of the group to make sure your request will be welcome, and you don’t accidentally cause offense. This _is_ a good way to reach these groups, but it may not be as simple as posting a QR code on the community bulletin board at a mosque. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-ideas-on-gathering-my-samples-for-a-survey/1001695/45 "2024-05-20T14:37:40Z")
I answered your question in good faith, based on my understanding of your question, and reflecting my experience in the field. If it is not what you are looking for I am sorry, but the tone of your reply was rude and uncalled for. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-ideas-on-gathering-my-samples-for-a-survey/1001695/46 "2024-05-20T14:56:38Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > I answered your question in good faith What question were you answering because before you answered I clarified > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > How can I find 50 people from each group to answer whatever question I ask? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-ideas-on-gathering-my-samples-for-a-survey/1001695/47 "2024-05-20T15:09:21Z")
As one of the many people who was confused as to what @Saint_Cad was looking for, may I suggest that he’s now clarified his question, and we might all move on from the friction caused by earlier misunderstandings. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-ideas-on-gathering-my-samples-for-a-survey/1001695/48 "2024-05-21T00:26:15Z")
Might I suggest using a related dataset (as your question seems very specific) that might be used for your class? One of the Statistics Canada hubs might be a good place to pull data from, such as the [Dimensions of Poverty](https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/topics-start/poverty) hub. StatsCan has a good reputation and to my knowledge makes the raw data public for must surveys for individuals and organizations to use. I’m going to assume you’re American, so perhaps using data from another, similar in many ways, country might remove some of the emotional reactions from students so you can focus on the data but still provide clarity on more local perspectives. Otherwise, in order to find participants for your needs, if not using something like Reddit and online data gathering, I support the idea of going to places of worship, cultural centers, local events celebrating a community (e.g. dates pertinent to another country), and music/arts events (I just got back from a punk festival, I’m sure you’d get all sorts of interesting opinions from that crowd!). Good luck! ETA: Here’s the hub list: > **[Subjects](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/subjects)** > > Browse Statistics Canada’s data, analysis and reference by subject. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-some-ideas-on-gathering-my-samples-for-a-survey/1001695.md?page=2)