Sampling

Question 1

Volunteer sampling

Answer 1

Involves participants selecting themselves to be part of the sample.e.g to select a volunteer a research may place an advert in a newspaper

Question 2

Strengths of volunteer sampling

Answer 2

-Participants will be happy and willing to participate so will be more likely to compete all the tasks required of them e.g questionnaire

-not a time consuming method as it requires minimum input from the researcher.e.g the researcher only puts up an advert and waits for volunteers to come

Question 3

Limitation of volunteer sampling

Answer 3

It would provide a biased sample as it would only include the participants from the area.e.g students from only one university =doesn’t reflect the population as they are all of a similar age/academic level

-sample may be biased as the type of participants who volunteer may have a differing traits to the general population e.g more extroverted

Question 4

Stratified sampling

Answer 4

the process of selecting a sample from a population comprised of various subgroups (strata) in such a way that each subgroup is represented.

Question 5

Strength of stratified sampling

Answer 5

-Ensures that the sample is truly representative as there’s different types of people.=findings can be generalised
-no researcher bias.the selection within each stratum is done randomly.

Question 6

Limitations of stratified sampling

Answer 6

-Time consuming.may take a while to identify strata and contact people from each to take part
-a complete representation of the target population is not possible as the identified strata cannot reflect all the differences between the people of wider population

Question 7

Opportunity sampling

Answer 7

Where participants are recruited to be a part of a study simply because they happen to be there at the time the study is being carried out

Question 8

Limitations of opportunity sample

Answer 8

Unrepresentative of the target population e.g the type of participants chosen may be more confident or outgoing which may have caused them to perform better
-research bias.the researcher has complete control over the selection of the participants= May choose people who they believe will positively impact their study.

Question 9

Strengths of opportunity sampling

Question 10

Random sampling

Answer 10

This is when all members of the population have the same equal chance of being the one that is selected

Question 11

Strength of random sampling

Answer 11

No researcher bias.the research has no control over who is picked=prevent them from choosing people who they think will support their hypothesis

Question 12

Limitations of random sampling

Answer 12

Time consuming. research she needs to have a list of members of the population and then contacting them takes time.
-volunteer bias participants can refuse to take part so can end up with an unrepresentative sample

Question 13

Systematic sampling

Answer 13

Refers to a predetermined system whereby every nth member is selected from the sampling frame. This numerical selection is applied consistently until the desired sample is collected

Question 14

Strengths of systematic sampling

Answer 14

Avoids researcher bias. Once the system for selection has been established, the researcher has no influence over he is chosen.= prevent the researches from choosing who they believe will support their hypothesis

Question 15

Limitations of systematic sampling

Answer 15

-not truly unbiased unless you use a random number generator and then start the systematic sample

Question 16

How is a random sample collected?

Answer 16

-firstly a complete list of all the members of the target population is obtained
-All the names on the list are put into a hat
-The research of picks up a name
-This is a repeated until the researcher reaches the desired sample size

Question 17

How is a stratified sample collected?

Answer 17

First, the researcher identifies the different strata (subgroups)that make up the population
Then the proportions needed for the sample of x to be representative are worked out
Finally, the participants that make up each stratum are selected using random sampling .