Sampling design in hospital management research: Lessons from a respondent survey

Tóm tắt

Background: Sampling choices shape the credibility and utility of hospital-management research. This study reports a pragmatic sampling design from a tertiary military hospital in Vietnam and distills operational lessons for future studies. Subjects and methods: We surveyed 263 health-care workers at Military Hospital 175 using non-probability convenience sampling. After cleaning, 243 valid questionnaires were obtained, with the target size derived from a conservative 50% response assumption for social surveys and adequacy rules for multivariate analyses. The achieved n=243 exceeded thresholds for EFA (≥5 × items) and multiple regression (≥50 + 8m), ensuring stable estimation. Results: The final sample permitted factor and regression modeling with good model fit (adjusted R²≈0.673), indicating sufficient statistical power for detecting associations between organizational factors and work motivation. Group comparisons were feasible: no differences by sex or age, but significant differences by education, job role, income, and tenure, illustrating how sampling coverage supported meaningful stratified analyses. Conclusion: The strongest standardized effect was Working Conditions, followed by Welfare/Benefits, Income, Leadership, Job Characteristics, Training, and Recognition. Motivation differed by education, job role, income, and experience, but not by sex or age. Despite convenience sampling, adequacy checks support internal validity.