Describe the difference between 'samples' and 'populations' in research, using any examples.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2020). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [2] 1 mark for basic definition of each term (2 marks in total)
2. [5] 5 further marks for detail/examples.
3. [] Max 4 marks if only about 'samples' OR 'populations.
4. [] No explicit difference is required for full marks.
5. [1] • Population = all the people who could be used in the study / an entire group of people who share something in common / the people whom the results of the study will be used to represent;
6. [1] • Sample = the participants/people who are used in the study / a selection of the population (i.e. it is smaller than the population) (from whom the results will be generalised and should represent the population);
7. [1] different because sample may be biased / unrepresentative of population;
8. [1] different because a population contains many variations, whereas a sample may include just some of those;
9. [1] e.g. Canli right-handed / women;
10. [2] A population is all the people of one type, a sample is just those who become participants = 2 marks
11. [] e.g. Milgram: population
12. [1] • American / male / New Haven residents / newspaper readers / aged 20-50 years / a range of occupations;
13. [] Milgram: sample
14. [1] • 40 (men) / Who responded to an advert;
15. [] e.g. Yamamoto: population
16. [1] • Chimps;
17. [] Yamamoto: sample
18. [1] • 5 (chimps) / captive (chimps) / (chimps) at Kyoto (primate research station);
19. [] e.g. Pepperberg: population
20. [1] • (African grey) parrots;
21. [] Pepperberg: sample
22. [1] • Alex / one / captive;
23. [] E.g. Andrade: sample
24. [1] • 40 / members of MRC/Applied Psychology, Cognition and Brain Sciences panel / from general population / aged 18-55;