sampling methods

Question 1

what are the 4 sampling types?

Answer 1

• random
• stratified
• volunteer
• opportunity

Question 2

what is random sampling?

Answer 2

random sampling is where everyone in the target population has an equal chance of being selected

Question 3

give a strength of random sampling

Answer 3

there’s a large chance of the sample being representative since each member of the target population has the same probability of being selected

Question 4

give 2 weaknesses of random sampling

Answer 4

• it can be difficult to achieve as it takes a lot of time/effort/money
• small minority groups within your target population may distort results, even with random sampling

Question 5

what is stratified sampling?

Answer 5

stratified sampling is where the researcher identifies the different types of people that make up the target population and works out the proportions needed for the sample to be representative
e.g. students studying english lit may spend more money on books than engineering students, so if we use a large percentage of english students or engineering students, our results will not be accurate

Question 6

give a strength of stratified sampling

Answer 6

the sample should be highly representative of the target population, and therefore we can generalise from the results obtained

Question 7

give a weakness of stratified sampling

Answer 7

gathering such a sample would be extremely time consuming and difficult to do. is rarely used in psychology

Question 8

what is opportunity sampling?

Answer 8

a method where participants are chosen based on whether they are easily accessible and willing to take part
e.g. employees from a conveniently located shop near the laboratory could be selected for the sample group

Question 9

give a strength of opportunity sampling

Answer 9

• the method is quick and easy to carry out
• it’s inexpensive/cheap to carry out

Question 10

give a weakness of opportunity sampling

Answer 10

it may not provide a representative sample and could be biased

Question 11

what is volunteer sampling?

Answer 11

a sample consisted of people who have volunteered to be in the study

Question 12

what is a strength of volunteer sampling?

Answer 12

it often achieves a large sample size through reaching a wide audience, for example with online advertisements