Personally, seems like this is a perfect list to raise issues about methodology .... done in a civil way of course. My original post dealt NOT with random samples ... but more specifically ... what is the population of interest of the researcher making the "volunteer" request and, whether this online request for volunteers is the way to go about obtaining that sample from the target population of interest. Educational Research and Methodology Listserv ----------------------------------------------------------------- List Service Info http://listserv.uconn.edu To cancel your subscription address click please do the following: SEND an email to the following address: mailto (colon) listserv (at) listserv (dot) uconn (dot) edu Your email should contain only the message UNSUB EDRESMETH-L. Address problems with your subscription to: [log in to unmask] -----------------------------------------------------------------