Sampling techniques Flashcards
What is a target population?
psychologists need to think about the sorts of people they want to find out about
What is a sample?
you cant test everyone in a target population so you have to choose some
What is a sampling technique?
technique used to select a group of people from a target population
What are the different sampling techniques?
opportunity, random, volunteer and stratified sampling
What is opportunity sampling?
picking people who are most convenient (asking people who walk past)
What are the strengths of opportunity sampling?
quickest, easiest
What are the weaknesses of opportunity sampling?
not generalisable ( not easily applied to other situations)
What is random sampling?
choosing people randomly
What are the strengths of random sampling?
no bias
What are the weaknesses of random sampling?
doesn’t mean consent has been given
What is volunteer sampling?
- individuals have to come to you
- posters, advertisements
What are the strengths of volunteer sampling?
- consent has been given
What are the weaknesses of volunteer sampling?
- more confident, extraverted people
What is stratified sampling?
- divided into groups depending on abilities and similarities
What are the strengths of stratified sampling?
- no order effect
- generalisable results
