Editing Nonprobability sampling (section)

== Advantages and disadvantages ==
While probabilistic methods are suitable for large-scale studies concerned with representativeness, nonprobability approaches may be more suitable for in-depth qualitative research in which the focus is often to understand complex social phenomena.<ref>(Marshall 1996; Small 2009)</ref> The in-depth analysis of a small purposive sample or case study enables the discovery and identification of patterns and causal mechanisms that do not draw time and context-free assumptions. Another advantage of nonprobability sampling is its lower cost compared to probability sampling. 

Nonprobability sampling is often not appropriate in statistical quantitative research.<ref>(Lucas 2014a)</ref>