sampling

Question 1

population

Answer 1

a group of people who are the focus of the researcher’s interest, from which a smaller sample is drawn

Question 2

sample

Answer 2

a group of people who take part in a research investigation

the sample if drawn from a population and is resumed to be representative of that population

Question 3

sampling techniques

Answer 3

the method used to select people from the population

Question 4

bias - sampling

Answer 4

in the context of sampling, when certain groups are over or under-represented within the sample selected

Question 5

generalisation - sampling

Answer 5

the extent to which findings and conclusions from a particular investigation can be broadly applied to the population

this is possible if the sample of participants is representative of the target population

Question 6

random sample

Answer 6

every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected

Question 7

systematic sample

Answer 7

every nth person is chosen from a list

Question 8

stratified sample

Answer 8

the proportions of people in population subgroups (strata) are reflected in the sample

Question 9

opportunity sample

Answer 9

whoever is available at the time of sampling will be included

Question 10

volunteer sample

Answer 10

participants ‘self-select’

Question 11

random sample eval

Answer 11

• unbiased - confounding or extraneous variables should be equally divided between different groups - enhancing internal validity
• difficult and time-consuming
• may still be unrepresentative - laws of probability suggest random sampling more likely but not 100% of case
• participants may refuse to take part so becomes more like volunteer sample

Question 12

systematic sample eval

Answer 12

• objective as researcher has no influence over who is chosen
• time-consuming and may refuse to take part so becomes a volunteer sample

Question 13

stratified sample eval

Answer 13

• designed to accurately reflect the composition of the population - generalisation of findings possible
• not perfect - identified strata cannot reflect all the ways people are different so complete representation not possible

Question 14

opportunity sample eval

Answer 14

• convenient - less costly in terms of time and money than random sampling - list of population not required
• two forms of bias - unrepresentative of the target population as drawn from specific area so cannot be generalised and researcher bias as complete control over selection of participants

Question 15

volunteer sample eval

Answer 15

• easy as required minimal effort so less time-consuming than other forms of sampling - participant more engaged
• volunteer bias - may attract a certain profile of person - lacks generalisability