Solved – Finite population correction for calculating margin of error

finite-populationstandard errorsurvey

Let's say that I have a population of 10000, and I have a sample of 300 that have responded to an online survey. Of 10000 invitations, 300 hundred have replied. Would I be able to use the finite population correction for margin of error?

Population: 10000
Sample: 300
Response: 3%

Best Answer

With a 3% response rate, it is highly likely that self-selection has made this a biased sample. whuber has also pointed out that 10000 may not be the whole population.

If the population was 10000 and if you had a random sample of 300 then you could make a finite population correction. Wikipedia suggests a multiplicative factor for the standard error of $$\sqrt{\dfrac{N-n}{N-1}}$$ which with $N=10000$ and $n=300$ is about $0.985$, not something that is going to make a lot of difference.

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