Sampling Techniques Flashcards
What is volunteer sampling?
participants respond to some kind of advert, volunteering themselves to be a part of the research.
What is an advantage of volunteer sampling?
relatively easy because participants come to you. they will also be more interested to complete the task.
What is a disadvantage of volunteer sampling?
biased/not representative as the kinds of people who volunteer are likely to be similar, eg being inquisitive or having free time.
What is opportunity sampling?
participants happen to be available at the time when the researcher is conducting the study. therefore, only those people who are there at the time have the opportunity to participate.
What is an advantage of opportunity sampling?
quick and easy because participants are readily available.
What is a disadvantage of opportunity sampling?
biased/not representative as the kinds of people available are likely to be limited and therefore similar.
What is systematic sampling?
every nth member is selected from a list of the target population to participate in research. eg every 10th student at college from the A-level department.
What is an advantage of systematic sampling?
more objective as the researcher does not have any influence over who is chosen once the sampling frame is decided.
What is a disadvantage of systematic sampling?
takes more time, money and effort to do because a list of the target population may be difficult to obtain.
What is random sampling?
every person in the target population has an equal chance of being elected to participate. names might be put into a hat or generated from a computerised list, of which so many will be selected at random.
What is an advantage of random sampling?
more representative as all people within a target population have an equal chance of being chosen.
What is a disadvantage of random sampling?
takes more time, money and effort to do because a list of the target population may be difficult to obtain.
What is stratified sampling?
every sub group of the target population is represented to the proportion that each sub group exists. eg if 10% of the target population were aged 16-18, 10% of the participants will be aged 16-18.
What is an advantage of stratified sampling?
should be representative as all sub groups in target population are represented.
What is a disadvantage of stratified sampling?
difficult as all sub groups in the target population must be known and accessible.
