sampling

Question 1

sampling

Answer 1

Often when Sociologists do research, the whole group they want to study is too large to reach, therefore they choose a smaller portion of the group to study, this is called a sample.

Question 2

survey/ research population

Answer 2

group/people researcher wants to study

Question 3

sampling technique

Answer 3

the type of sampling method used to pick the sample

Question 4

sampling unit

Answer 4

one member of the sample

Question 5

sampling frame

Answer 5

list of group/ people from which sample will be taken

Question 6

sample attrition

Answer 6

loss of sampling units

Question 7

random sampling

Answer 7

where names are drawn compleatley random from a list

Question 8

systematic sampling

Answer 8

names are selected at regular intervals

Question 9

stratified random sampling

Answer 9

the survey population split into categories based on characteristics
random selection taken from each catagory

Question 10

quota sampling

Answer 10

where a researcher must select a certain number of people in particular categories

Question 11

snowball sampling

Answer 11

the researcher finds one person with the characteristics they want to research

Question 12

volunteer sample

Answer 12

an open invitation for people to volunteer for the research

Question 13

multi stage sampling

Answer 13

one sample is picked using one if the sampling techniques than a smaller sample is chosen within that sample.

Question 14

non-representative sample

Answer 14

a sample is deliberately chosen to focus on a particular characteristic of participants

Question 15

representative sampling advantages

Answer 15

data obtained from representative sampling can be used to make generalists (positivists)
sample can be relatively small because it accurately reflects the survey population

Question 16

representative sampling disadvantages

Answer 16

an accurate and up to date sampling frame may not be available or difficult to find
the cost and time involved in creating a sampling frame, contacting these selected may be too much
can still be unrepresentative if those selected from the sample are not willing to participate

Question 17

non-representative sampling advantages

Answer 17

can be favoured by interpretivists because they are not interested in making generalisations and can allow a deeper understanding of a group/individual
used when there’s no sampling frame available
useful when the researcher knows nothing about the characteristics of the target population
quick/cheap method as no sample frame needs to be obtained

Question 18

non representative sampling disadvantages

Answer 18

sample may be unrepresented and therefore not able to be used for generalisations
could lead to statistically inadequate samples