Section 3: THE SAMPLE IN A STUDY

Question 1

Population

Answer 1

All individuals who share particular characteristics and can be considered as part of a larger group from which samples are drawn.

Question 2

Sample

Answer 2

To save time and money, researchers use a subgroup of the chosen population

Question 3

Sample representativeness

Answer 3

A sample from a larger group that accurately represents the characteristics of a larger population.

Question 4

Random sampling

Answer 4

When every member of a given population has an equal chance of being selected. Experiments often use computers to generate a random sample, but as an example of more simple solutions, one can pick names out of a hat. The sample size needs to be fairly large for true representativeness to be achieved.
- Used to achieve true sample representativeness

Question 5

Convenience sampling

Answer 5

When researchers ask anyone who is conveniently available to them e.g. people in a shopping centre or fellow students in the same school.

Question 6

Sampling Bias

Answer 6

When the method used to obtain a sample tends to favour one part of the population over another.