Sampling: SR

Sampling Techniques for Quantitative Research

Studying Research

In this session, you will:Identify various sampling methodsApply sampling methods to your research project

Session objectives

Using your lecture notes, you should work in pairs to indentify the various sampling techniques.What are these methods called?Be prepared to share on the board.You have 3 minutes.

Opening Activity: PAIR, SHARE & Report

Standing outside a Starbucks outlet in Leeds, a market researcher asks members of the public about their views on a new chocolate drink. He takes the data from the first 5 men and first 5 women.What type of sample is this? Explain why a random sample isn’t possible in this situation.

Example one:

A sports club has 325 junior members, 132 novice members and 834 experienced members. The chairperson wants to sample 25 members, to represent the proportion of junior, novice and experienced members.What type of sample is this? How many junior members should he sample?

Example two:

The manager of a small business of 100 people is investigating whether her team are using the a new IT system to its best effect. She checks what part of the IT system the staff are most competent with. She checks every 15th employee.What type of sample is this? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using this sample? Explain an alternative method.

Example three:

Example 1:What type of sample is this? This is a quota sample - he is assessing the first customers he comes across with a set sample size for different genders of participants.Explain why a random sample isn’t possible in this situation. The researcher is unlikely to be able to have the details of the business' customers, and he doesn’t know who will attend, so he can’t assign them a random number.

solutions:

Example 2:What type of sample is this? This is a stratified sample. How many junior members should he sample? There are 1291 club members in total, with 325 juniors. 𝟑𝟐𝟓/𝟏𝟐𝟗𝟏 × 25 = 6.29… He must choose an whole number of juniors, so he should choose 6.

solutions:

Example 3:What type of sample is this? This is a systematic sample as they are taking a sample at a set interval. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using this sample? It is quick and easy to sample staff in this way.

solutions:

For greater marks in your assignments, you are required to develop a mixed methodology.You should now consider how you will use quantitative methods in your research project.You have the rest of the session to do this. Your tutor will be available to assist you.

consider this: