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.