Sampling Methods Flashcards
What are the 7 different types of sampling methods
Stratified sampling
Systematic sampling
Random sampling
Quota sampling
Opportunity sampling
Volunteer (self-selected) sampling
Snowball sampling
What is random sampling and its advantages and disadvantages
A sample when anyone in the target population has an equal chance for being selected eg. names out of a hat
+ usually a representative and unbiased sample
- time consuming to collect list of entire target population
What is opportunity sampling and its advantages and disadvantages
A sample when participants are selected at the researcher’s convenience, without knowing any details about the sample in advance
+ easy and convenient, uses those available at the time of testing
- likely to be unrepresentative of the target population, not an equal chance of all participants being selected
What is systematic sampling and its advantages and disadvantages
The researcher chooses every nth person on a list
+ removed researcher bias as researcher chooses system before seeing participants
- system may be unrepresentative as not all subgroups can be selected and participants may choose not to participate
What is stratified sampling and its advantages and disadvantages
The target group is divided into subgroups eg. sex, age and then the participants are selected randomly from each subgroup
+ sample is normally representative of the target population as they are in proportion to their occurrence and selected randomly
- sample is very time consuming to create
What is quota sampling and its advantages and disadvantages
The target population is divided into subgroups and participants are chosen from each subgroup at the convenience of the researcher
+ all subgroups represented in the target population so a representative sample
- only uses those available at the time of testing so might not represent people unavailable at the time
What is volunteer (self selected) sampling and what are the advantages and disadvantages of it
People respond to advertisements for volunteers to take part in research
+ easy to gather sample and gives a large access to a range of participants
- likely to be biased as participants want to be helpful and may not apply to target population
What is snowball sampling and what are its advantages and disadvantages
The research initially recruits participants who then recruit further participants
+ allows research on ‘hidden populations’ which are difficult to access
- sample is prone to bias
