In order to get a sample, the researcher needs to decide on a target population, which are the group of people that the psychologist would like to study in the hope that the findings can be generalisable to and representative of that population.
- Random sampling: Involves every participant in the target populating having an equal chance of being chosen.
- Opportunity sampling: Involves researchers recruiting participants who happen to be around at the time of the research.
- Volunteer sampling: Involves researchers advertising for participants; therefore, participants decide whether they want to take part or not.
- Stratified sampling: Involves recruiting a sample that is a mini version of the target population; therefore, the researchers recruit participants from each major stratum of the population. For example, if 65% of population is female, the sample should have 65% of women.
CIE A Level Psychology 