Research Methods - Stratified Sampling

Stratified sampling is a method used in order to get a completely representative sample. This is done by giving everyone an equal chance of being picked, but within categories. For example, if you were trying to research a class's attitude towards sociology, but the class consisted of 12 girls and 6 boys, there's more of a chance that if everyone's names were put into a hat that more girls would be picked, and therefore the boys would be under-represented. To solve this, researchers use stratified sampling, which involves controlling the factors and picking a sample which represents the target population fairly, whilst the target population is split into groups.

Research Methods - Systematic Sampling

Systematic sampling is when you choose every nth person. This is used in order to achieve a random sample with a variety of different people. This also manages to cover larger areas without having to ask everyone. For example, if you wanted to know the general attitude towards youth crime in a specific town, you could choose every 5th person off a council register of residents, which would help to get a wider opinion without having to ask as many people.

Research Methods - Opportunity Sampling

Opportunity sampling is when the researcher uses people who just happen to be there at the time that the sample is being made. For example, if you wanted to look at students lunch habits, you could go to the college café and observe people who happened to be there eating at the time.

Research Methods - Random Sampling

A random sample is one where everyone has an equal chance of being picked. For example, putting everyone's name into a hat would be a random sample as they all have an equal chance of being picked. This method is regarded as representative because it assumes that everyone has an equal chance to be picked,however, it can sometimes be considered as not being representative due to the possibility of picking people who have similar characteristics, when you are, in fact, looking for a random sample.

Research Methods - Sampling Methods

There are 8 main sampling methods covered in the WJEC Sociology syllabus. They are listed below.

Random Sampling
Opportunity Sampling
Systematic Sampling
Quota Sampling
Cluster Sampling
Volunteer Sampling
Snowball Sampling

Stratified Sampling