Final answer:
When making sampling decisions for accounts receivable confirmations, it's important to sample material segments of the population, understand the implications of management's refusal to allow confirmations, consider the impact of inherent risk on sample size, and recognize that stratification can be beneficial.
Step-by-step explanation:
When making sampling decisions for accounts receivable confirmations, the statement that it is important to sample some items for every material segment of the population reflects a correct approach. Stratification of the sample, contrary to the option presented, is not discouraged and can actually improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the sample. Further, inherent risk does indeed impact the sample size; if inherent risk is higher, a larger sample size may be necessary to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence. If management refuses to allow the auditor to send confirmation requests, this does not automatically mean the auditor must withdraw from the engagement; instead, the auditor should consider the implications for the integrity of the management and the possibility of misstatements in the financial statements, seeking alternative procedures to verify the information.
In the case of probability sampling, researchers choose samples at random from the larger population. This technique is crucial for achieving a representative sample that can reflect the opinions of the larger population. Moreover, the reliability of a sample can be affected by its size and method of collection. Inaccuracies in sampling may lead to biased or unrepresentative results that do not accurately depict public opinion or other variables of interest.