Sampling Methods

Question 1

Opportunity sampling

Answer 1

Simply choosing ppts who are available at the time of rsch. They are not chosen due to specific characteristics e.g. Age, gender etc.

Question 2

Snowball sampling

Answer 2

Used for ppt observations where the Rschr wishes to become part of the group. The Rschr gains trust of one group member who then gradually introduces them to more and more members of that group

Question 3

Systematic sampling

Answer 3

A system whereby a list of people is reviewed and every nth person is selected e.g. Every 5th person from a work register

Question 4

Quota/Stratified sampling

Answer 4

Divide sample into subcategories to represent the amount of people they reflect within the target population e.g. In a population of 100 where there are 60 males and 40 females, a sample of 10 would ci what of 6 males and 4 females

QUOTA USES OPPORTUNITY SAMPLING
STRATIFIED USES RANDOM SAMPLING

Question 5

Random sampling

Answer 5

Every member of the target population has an equal chance of being chosen. A list of everyone in target population is needed and then a unbiased/random method of choosing sample is used e.g. Picking names from a hat.

Question 6

Volunteer/Self-selected

Answer 6

A sampling technique that solely relies on people who choose to respond to requests from the environment e.g. an advertisement in a newspaper

Question 7

Opportunity strengths

Answer 7

Quick and convenient easy to find ppts as they are readily available therefore it takes Rschrs less time to find a sample and begin their rsch

Question 8

Opportunity weakness

Answer 8

It doesn’t produce a representative sample be rsch is only being drawn from a small area at a particular time and place

Question 9

Self-selected/volunteer strength

Answer 9

Ppts are willing to take part in rsch therefore they take the rsch more seriously which may help to avoid extraneous variables such as tiredness or boredom

Question 10

Self-selected/volunteer weakness

Answer 10

Volunteer bias may occur as only certain types of people may respond to these adverts e.g usually well-educated and confident people therefore the sample is not representative of the target population

Question 11

Systematic strengths

Answer 11

Potentially unbiased as Rschrs are using an objective system therefore thoughts and feelings of the Rschr will not interfere with the sample chosen

Question 12

Systemic weakness

Answer 12

It may still be biased because there may be more boys represented tha girls or vice versa when the target population may be the opposite

Question 13

Random strength

Answer 13

Largely unbiased as all member of target population have an equal chance of being chosen therefore a certain type of person is less likely to be chosen which potentially prevents rsch findings being confounded

Question 14

Random weakness

Answer 14

It is time consuming gathering the ppts’ names and then randomly selecting them. There is also no guarantee results will be representative of the as the same type of person may be chosen

Question 15

Quota/stratified strength

Answer 15

More representative than other methods and less biased because the sample is proportionate to the target population

Question 16

Quota/stratified weakness

Answer 16

Very time consuming and complex and ppts in subgroups may still be unrepresentative as

Question 17

Snowball strength

Answer 17

Easy for the Rschr to carry out in the sense that they only need to find one person to start their sample off and gaining the rest of the sample is not up to them

Question 18

Snowball weakness

Answer 18

Extremely time consuming can take a long time to gain trust and infiltrate the group