Sampling

Question 1

What is sampling?

Answer 1

The act or process of selecting a fragment of the total population for testing or analysing in sociological research

Question 2

What is a sampling frame?

Answer 2

A representative list of people from the target population from which the sample will be drawn

Question 3

What is a target population?

Answer 3

The social groups the researcher is interested in

Question 4

What is a sampling method?

Answer 4

The method by which the researcher will select their participants

Question 5

What is the purpose of sampling?

Answer 5

To make sure that the people chosen to be included in a study are representative of the research population. Sociologists aim to obtain a representative sample in their research.

Question 6

What are some examples of sampling methods that are likely to provide representative samples?

Answer 6

• Random sample
• Stratified sample
• Quota sample
• Systematic sample

Question 7

What are some examples of sampling methods that are less likely to provide representative samples than others?

Answer 7

• Snowball sample
• Volunteer/self-selecting sample
• Purposive and opportunity sample

Question 8

What are some examples of sampling frames?

Answer 8

• School register
• Details of club members
• Electoral register
• Young Offenders Register
• The Royal Mail Postcode Address File (most complete sampling frame in the UK)

Question 9

What is random sampling?

Answer 9

Where every individual of the target population has an equal chance of being selected

Question 10

What are some ways in which random sampling can be carried out?

Answer 10

• By hand (picking names from a hat)
• Computer generated numbers

Question 11

What are the strengths of random sampling?

Answer 11

A truly random sample has the most chance of being representative.
- A large enough random sample should reflect the characteristics of the whole research population.

Question 12

What are the weaknesses of random sampling?

Answer 12

• Difficult to be truly random, may be a bias in sample simply by chance
  Could be too many people of one sex, age or social class (e.g a sample taken from a school using this method could produce a sample that is disproportionately male or female)

Question 13

What is random sampling also known as?

Answer 13

Simple random sampling

Question 14

What is stratified sampling?

Answer 14

The sample frame is divided up into strata (e.g. gender, age, class, ethnicity) and random samples are drawn separately from each section to ensure a representative sample.
- The sample is then used to create the accurate proportions; for example if 20% of the population are under 16 then 20% of the sample has to be under 16

Question 15

What are the strengths of stratified sampling?

Answer 15

The final sample is likely to be more representative as it is reflective of the way in which the target population is made up

Question 16

What is a weakness of stratified sampling?

Answer 16

Samples are often influenced by the researcher in order to obtain quality representation in each group, which may not be an accurate reflection of the wider population

Question 17

What does the criteria used to stratify samples in stratified sampling depend on, and how does this impact the sampling frame?

Answer 17

Depends on the topic being investigated
- The sampling frame is still used, but it needs to be one that included the relevant information about the population’s characteristics (e.g gender or age)

Question 18

What is quota sampling?

Answer 18

In quota sampling, researchers select people who fit into certain categories according to their proportion in the target population. The researcher approaches people who match the characteristics (e.g. 20 males under 40) until the ‘quota’ is filled.
- It does not require a sample frame

Question 19

Who tends the use the quota sampling method and where?

Answer 19

Market researchers who collect data in public places like shopping centres

Question 20

What is one way in which market researchers’ use of quota sampling is unrepresentative?

Answer 20

If the quota is filled by stopping people while they are shopping during the week, this would exclude those who are at work

Question 21

What are the strengths of quota sampling?

Answer 21

Participants are closely linked with the research topic, and research therefore tends to be more valid as data is about specific groups

Question 22

What are the weaknesses of quota sampling?

Answer 22

Quota samples are usually biased and not representative

Question 23

What is systematic sampling?

Answer 23

When names are selected from the sampling frame at regular intervals (every nth, e.g 5th or 10th etc) until the size of the sample is reached

Question 24

Why does a systematic sample have much the same risk of unrepresentativeness as a random sample?

Answer 24

Every nth name might be the same sort of person (eg a white middle class person) by chance, making the data unrepresentative.

Question 25

What are the strengths of systematic sampling?

Answer 25

• Straightforward / Quick to organise
• May not be random, but viewed as a fair way to proceed
• Likely to be representative if from a large sample

Question 26

What is a weakness of systematic sampling?

Answer 26

• Not random as not everyone has an equal chance of being selected
• Risk of samples being unrepresentative as you may end up with more than one type of person than another by chance

Question 27

What is snowball sampling?

Answer 27

This is where a member of the sampling group is identified, and acts as a gatekeeper to introduce them to another person from the group willing to cooperate in research. This person then is asked to identify others, and so the ‘snowball’ starts to roll and get bigger.

Question 28

When is snowball sampling used?

Answer 28

When a sampling frame is difficult to obtain or doesn’t exist

Question 29

What are the strengths of snowball sampling?

Answer 29

• Samples are useful
• Can obtain data from difficult to reach sample groups

Question 30

What are the weaknesses of snowball sampling?

Answer 30

• Not random, and therefore not representative
• Relies on volunteers recommending other volunteers to the researcher, making the sample self-selecting, which may create bias

Question 31

What are gatekeepers?

Answer 31

People who work institutions (education, care homes, prisons) or groups (criminal gangs) that can facilitate access to a group of participants (school children, disabled people, criminals)

Question 32

What is volunteer sampling?

Answer 32

Volunteer sampling is when, in the absence of a sample frame, researchers take another approach by inviting people to volunteer for the study

Question 33

Why are volunteer samples unrepresentative?

Answer 33

They are unrepresentative of the target population as only those with a strong interest are likely to come forward to take part

Question 34

Why do many modern studies make use of volunteer samples?

Answer 34

The development of online research and software that is widely available

Question 35

What can volunteer sampling be seen as an example of?

Answer 35

Opportunity or purposive sampling

Question 36

What is purposive sampling?

Answer 36

When a researcher has limited time / or there is no sampling frame available, they might set out to find people with characteristics that are relevant to the purpose of the study

Question 37

What are the strengths of purposive sampling?

Answer 37

• Saves time

Question 38

What are the weaknesses of purposive sampling?

Answer 38

• Unrepresentative

Question 39

What is opportunity sampling?

Answer 39

Opportunity sampling is when the sample is made up of those who are readily available, willing to take part, and suitable for the aim of the research. A passer-by in the street or a captive audience such as a class of pupils are examples of this.

Question 40

What is opportunity sampling also known as?

Answer 40

Convenience sampling

Question 41

Who is most likely to use opportunity sampling?

Answer 41

Students who lack the time and resources available to professional researchers

Question 42

What is an example of a study where systematic sampling was used?

Answer 42

Willmott and Young’s sample of Bethnal Green families in their study ‘Family and Kinship in East London’ (1957), a study of an urban working-class tight-knit community, and the effects of the post-war governments’ social housing policy leading to their rehousing.
- It has often been noted as one of the most influential sociological studies of the 20th centuary
- The aim of the study was to interact and understand a post-war community, to determine its aspirations, worries, doubts and insecurities.

Question 43

What is an example of a study where a non-representative sample was used on purpose?

Answer 43

Goldthorpe and Lockwood (1969) “Affluent Workers” study
- Tested the embourgoisement thesis (the belief that the working class was becoming more like the middle class) with untypical affluent workers.
- They argued that if the hypothesis was not true among affluent workers, it was not likely to be true with any other workers. In other words they have the hypothesis the best chance of being proved correct.