Research Methods: Sampling Strategies

Strategies for Creating a Representative Sample

• There are two methods to decide the sample size: making assumptions about the population and using statistical equations, or using a rule of thumb.
• The smaller the population, the larger the sampling ratio needs to be to yield the same results as the entire population.

Non-Representative Sampling Techniques

• Purposive or judgmental sampling is a non-representative sampling technique.
• Linked-traced sampling includes snowball sampling, respondent-driven sampling, and adaptive sampling.
• Other non-representative sampling techniques include deviant case sampling, sequential sampling, and theoretical sampling.

Importance of Sampling Strategy

• A sampling strategy should match a study's specific purpose.
• Probability sampling is preferred for a representative sample.

History of Survey Research

• The modern survey has its roots in ancient forms of the census.
• Surveys for social research started in the 19th century with social reform movements in the US and Great Britain.
• In the 1920s and 1930s, researchers began to use statistical sampling techniques.
• Survey research dramatically expanded during World War II, especially in the US.
• Since the 1970s, private industry, non-profit organizations, governments, and many academic fields have expanded the use of quantitative research.

The Logic of Survey Research

• Survey research proceeds deductively, conceptualizing variables and then operationalizing them as survey questions.
• The steps in the process of survey research include conceptualizing variables, operationalizing variables, rewriting survey questions, sequencing questions, considering data organization, and training interviewers if needed.

Construction of the Questionnaire

• Principles of good question writing include avoiding slang, jargon, and abbreviations, avoiding ambiguity, and choosing a field site and gaining access.

Field Research

• Steps in performing field research include preparing to enter the field, choosing a field site and gaining access, applying strategies, maintaining relations in the field, gathering and recording data, and exiting the field.
• Field research involves mutual sharing of experiences, and the interviewer should ask questions, listen, express interest, and record what was said.

The Field Research Interview

• The field interview involves asking questions, listening, expressing interest, and recording what was said.
• Field interviews occur in a series or over time, and involve the mutual sharing of experiences.
• Avoid probing inner feelings until intimacy is established, and proceed with caution even then.

Coding and Concept Formation

• Conceptualization in qualitative research involves forming new concepts or refining concepts that are grounded in data.
• A common approach to data analysis is to organize data into categories based on themes, concepts, or similar features.
• Coding qualitative data involves sorting raw data into conceptual categories and creating themes or concepts.

Analytic Strategies for Qualitative Data

• Analytic strategies for qualitative data include open coding, axial coding, and selective coding.
• These strategies are used to analyze and organize qualitative data.