Research Methods - Sampling

Question 1

What are the five types of sampling techniques?

Answer 1

Random sample
Systematic sample
Stratified sample
Opportunity sample
Volunteer sample

Question 2

Describe how you would take a Random sample

Answer 2

The lottery method.

1) complete a list of everyone in the target population
2) assign everyone a number
3) use a computer program to randomly generate participants

Question 3

Describe how you would take a Systematic sample

Answer 3

Produce a sampling frame of the people in the target population, then select every Nth person for the sample

Question 4

Describe how you would take a Stratified sample

Answer 4

1) Identify the Strata of the population
2) Work out the proportions needed for the sample to be representative
3) Select the participants to fill each strata using random sampling

Question 5

Describe how you would take a Opportunity sample

Answer 5

As anyone that is willing and able to participate at the time of the study.

Question 6

Describe how you would take a Volunteer sample

Answer 6

Place an advert in a newspaper and wait for volunteers to ‘come to you’

Question 7

What is the ‘Population’?

Answer 7

The group the researcher is interested in, from which a sample is drawn.

Question 8

What is a ‘sample’?

Answer 8

The group the research is carried out on. It is assumed to be representative.

Question 9

Evaluate Random sampling

Answer 9

+ Avoids researcher bias
+All members of the population have an equal chance of being selected
- Is not always representative
-Selected participants may not want to take part

Question 10

Evaluate Systematic sample

Answer 10

+Avoids researcher bias
+Usually representative (it would be unlucky to get all males for example)
-Selected participants may not want to take part

Question 11

Evaluate Stratified sampling

Answer 11

+Avoids researcher bias
+Very representative
-Time consuming and expensive
-The identified Strata doesn’t reflect all the ways the population is different
-Selected participants may not want to take part

Question 12

Evaluate Opportunity sampling

Answer 12

+ Convenient

• Unrepresentative - all members of the sample come from a specific area
• Researcher bias (researcher decides who participates)
• Selected participants may not want to take part

Question 13

Evaluate Volunteer sampling

Answer 13

+very easy - ‘they come to you’

• volunteer bias (volunteers are a certain type, therefore findings cannot be generalised)
• Researcher bias, researcher has control over who participates.
• Selected participants may not want to take part