Sampling
Apply the concepts from the sampling video to example studies. Read descriptions of example studies, choose which sampling approach would be most appropriate for that study, explain why, and then explain how you would use it.
This activity is only an individual submission assignment and not a discussion post.
You will not be required to review any of your peers’ work.
Directions
Decide which sampling approach would be most appropriate for each of the scenarios described below. You should carefully review the “Considerations” section below before deciding which approach you believe is most appropriate.
For each scenario:
State which general approach, probability or non-probability, would be more appropriate. Explain why.
Identify the specific sampling approach that you would use. Briefly summarize the approach and explain why it is appropriate for the scenario.
Note: While there are some wrong answers, there isn’t any one sampling approach that is the correct one to use for any of the scenarios.
In other words, evaluate you less on identifying the correct approach and more on how well you explain the sampling approach and apply it to the scenario.
Briefly explain how you would actually recruit participants. In other words, explain how you would actually apply the sampling approach and find/choose people to participate.
Considerations
The only way to ensure a truly representative sample is to use a probability sampling approach. This is why probability approaches are the “gold standard” for research. However, to use a probability approach, you must be able to obtain a list of all potential participants/objects. The only way to ensure that a random sample was selected is to obtain that list and then randomly select the participants/objects.
If you cannot obtain a list of all potential participants/objects, you must use a non-probability approach. If you are using a non-probability approach, you want to choose the one that is the most appropriate based on your access to participants. Convenience sampling is the weakest non-probability approach and is one you would use only if none of the other approaches are suitable.
It’s fine to use non-probability approaches with small groups or difficult-to-reach populations. Probability approaches are most appropriate for larger-scale projects where you want to be able to make general claims about larger populations.
The scenarios are intentionally vague so please be sure to thoroughly explain your justifications for choosing the sampling approach you did. If you make any assumptions, just explain them.
The Scenarios
You want to better understand what factors encourage people to commute to work by bicycle. If you can identify which factors have the most influence, you might be able to work with policymakers to create policies that will promote bicycling. You decide to administer a survey to bicycle commuters in a large city.
You want to document the educational experiences of first-generation college students of color. While being a first-generation college student can make navigating college difficult on its own, racial inequality in education can make it much tougher. You hope to be able to report on those students’ experiences to encourage college administrators to adopt policies to address those inequalities. You plan to conduct in-depth interviews with students at SJSU.
You want to conduct an experiment to explore how social media use affects people’s responses to stressful situations.
You plan to divide participants into three groups:
1) those who will read controversial or upsetting social media content,
2) those who will read uplifting or celebratory social media content, and
3) those who will read neutral or informative content.
After reading the social media content for 15 minutes, each participant will be placed in a stressful situation where a researcher will criticize them for doing something wrong. You will evaluate their responses and determine if the type of social media they read led to a more positive or negative reaction to being criticized.
You want to perform a study of people’s feelings about and experiences with new housing developments for the homeless. People are often very opposed to having housing for the homeless built in their neighborhood, but you know that projects that do get built generally contribute a lot to the community and don’t seem to lead to any negative consequences.
You want to actually research the experiences of people who live in neighborhoods where housing for the homeless was built. You have identified three different neighborhoods in a large city: one where housing was built within the last year, one where housing was built about 5 years ago, and one where housing was built 10 years ago. You plan to have residents in those neighborhoods complete a survey and then analyze and compare their responses.
Last Completed Projects
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