Sampling procedures

Question 1

Convenience sampling

Answer 1

Convenience Sampling – selecting participants based on the researchers accessibility to them or their availability
Advantage: Convenient, does not require forward planning, quick to administer
Disadvantage: Slightly biased, unable to generalise to people, not representative of the population

Question 2

Random sampling

Answer 2

carefully planned and systematic method of selecting participants for a study Advantage: very quick and inexpensive, not biased

Disadvantage: needs a complete list of all the members of a population (hard to get), can result in sampling error (non-representative)

Question 3

Stratified sampling

Answer 3

Involves breaking the population into distinct subgroups, or strata, then selecting a separate sample from each stratum, as the same proportions they occur in the target population Example: income, age, sex, religion, cultural background, residential area
Advantage: Representative of population
Disadvantage: Can be time consuming to undertake

Question 4

Random stratified sampling

Answer 4

Involves breaking groups into strata, then selecting a sample from each stratum randomly Advantage: Obtains a representative sample that is free from bias
Disadvantage: Time consuming