Samples and sampling Flashcards
(15 cards)
What is sampling?
process of creating/selecting a sample.
What should samples be?
Representative.
Who prefers this method?
Positivists
What is random sampling?
Selected purely by chance.
What’s an advantage?
Everyone involved has an equal chance.
What’s a disadvantage?
Groups are not large enough to demonstrate characteristics.
What is systematic/Quasi-random sampling?
Every nth person is selected.
What’s an example?
Young and Willmott - used every 36th name on an electoral register.
What is stratified random sampling?
Researcher breaks down population into sampling frame. Sample is created in same proportions.
What’s an example?
If 20% population under 18, 20% sample must be under 18.
What is quota sampling?
Population is ordered. Several interviewers are then given a target of a certain number of individuals who fit these stratified characteristics.
What social characteristics may make it impossible to create a representative sample?
may not be known what class there are.
sample may not be representative.
What are the difficulties with the sampling frame?
may be impossible to find/create a sampling frame for all research populations e.g not all criminals are convicted.
What issues do refusal play into?
Ethical as people may not want to participate.
If no samples can be created, what other methods can they do?
Snowball sampling= researchers contact key individual and will help further participants. Useful for collecting difficult samples.
Opportunity sampling = choosing individuals that are easiest to access e.g. selecting passer bys in the street.
