Sampling Methods (AQA GCSE Sociology)

What is sampling?

• Another part of the research process is where the sociologist identifies the population they want to study, e.g.

  • people (students, stay-at-home dads, single mums)

  • institutions (schools, hospitals, prisons)

• It can be impossible to question the full population so a sample or subgroup of the population will need to be studied

• The sample can be selected from a sampling frame:

  • A full list of all members of the population the sociologist wants to study, e.g.

    • school registers

    • the voters roll

    • Royal Mail's list of postcodes

• If the sampling frame is inaccurate, the sample drawn from it will not be representative or typical of the wider population

  • As a result, extrapolating or generalising the results to the wider population is difficult

Sampling methods

• In order to select a sample, sociologists can choose from a variety of sampling techniques known as probability and non-probability sampling

Probability sampling

• Each member of the sampling frame has a known chance of being selected

Evaluation

• Strengths of probability sampling methods:

  • Bias is reduced as the researcher has no influence over who is selected

  • Samples are selected that aim to be representative of the population

• Weaknesses of probability sampling methods:

  • Difficult and time-consuming to conduct in comparison to non-probability sampling methods, as a sampling frame may be difficult to obtain

  • Participants selected may refuse to take part so a completely representative sample may not be possible

Non-probability sampling

• These sampling methods are used where no sampling frame is available, such as homeless people or class A drug users

Evaluation

• Strengths of non-probability sampling methods:

  • Convenient methods as they save the researcher a lot of time and effort in comparison to probability sampling methods

  • May be the only way a researcher can obtain a sample

• Weaknesses of non-probability sampling methods:

  • Biased as the researcher has control over who is selected; for instance, they may avoid people they don't like the look of

  • A representative sample cannot be selected so findings cannot be generalised to the wider population