8. case studies

Question 1

what is a target population

Answer 1

a group of people who share a set of characteristics the researcher wishes to draw conclusions from
a sample is draw from a large target population
aims to be representative if not shows a bias
not representative

Question 2

opportunity sample

Answer 2

participants selected by using people who are most easy available
eg collect participants from sixth form common room
potential for bias selecting people you want to do the research
sub-groups may be missed so decrease the generalisability

Question 3

random sample

Answer 3

all members have an equal chance of being selected
selected by allowing a computer program to randomly select a sample
or pulled from a hat
no researcher bias
fluke that sub-groups are missed eg imbalance of genders = not representative=issues with generalisability

Question 4

systematic sample

Answer 4

access to target population put in order and every nth participant selected
eg look at register and select every nth student
no researcher bias
sub-groups may be missed
not truly representative

Question 5

stratified sample

Answer 5

complex form of sampling reflects key characteristics of the sub groups in target population
researcher identifies types of people that make up the population and work out the desired proportions of certain sub groups
eg 50% male and 50% female
no researcher bias
can be generalised as ever sub-group represented equally
highly representative