DESIGNING FOR DIVERSITY: INCLUSIVE SAMPLING

Abstract

Experts in human factors and ergonomics (HF/E) and related fields have the ability and responsibility to broadly serve  the needs and goals of diverse people, which encompasses issues of inclusion, equity, and justice. Importantly, HF/E designers, researchers, and practitioners can address these aims both as the intended outcomes of their work and how the work itself is conducted. Both pathways support progress toward more inclusive and equitable organizations and societies. This paper focuses upon one aspect of inclusive methodology—strategies for inclusive sampling. Sampling is an important focus because of its fundamental role in defining the internal and external validity of findings. Moreover, sampling is how diverse participants and perspectives are incorporated (or not), and thus represents an early way that exclusion, inequity, or inaccessibility may manifest. Three heuristic questions and six sets of strategies are briefly articulated: (1) purposive sampling, (2) oversampling, (3) community sampling, (4) removing barriers of distance, cost, communication, and awareness, (5) building trust, and (6) inclusive demographic categories. A variety of sources are cited to facilitate readers’ further consideration of these issues in their own HF/E endeavors.