Name one sampling technique.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Feb/Mar 2018). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1] (a) 1 mark for volunteer / self selected / opportunity / random sampling
2. Note: If more than one sampling technique is named, accept only the first answer.
3. ∞ Newspaper sample = 0 marks
4. [2] (b) Award 1 mark for partial explanation (e.g. identification of advantage).
5. Award 2 marks for full explanation.
6. Volunteer sampling:
7. ∞ obtain a range of different occupations/ages/both genders (accept any);
8. ∞ so findings would be generalisable;
9. ∞ can be specific about participant characteristics;
10. e.g. selecting only females for a study about premenstrual syndrome;
11. ∞ e.g. avoiding participants who would be likely to guess the aim of the study;
12. Opportunity sampling:
13. ∞ easy/quick to obtain participants because they are readily available;
14. e.g. if they are students at the researcher's institution;
15. Random sampling:
16. ∞ likely to obtain a range of different occupations/ages etc.;
17. so findings would be generalisable (as the variety in the population is represented);