Research

Subjects/Participants
 Participants,
Respondents and
Subjects?
Participants, respondents
and subjects are the people
who the researcher selects
for their study.
Whats their difference?
Participants

Participants are usually in qualitative research (eg.

interviews).

Respondents

Respondents answer (respond to) questionnaires -

usually quantitative.

Subjects
Subjects are usually in experimental/scientific
research (quantitative).
 Selecting
Research
Participants
Method of Selection (sampling)

The common (and simplest) method for selecting

participants for focus groups is called "purposive"
or "convenience" sampling. This means that you
select those members of the community who you
think will provide you with the best information.
Sampling basics
Sampling
is the process of selecting individuals for a study
probability sampling
the entire population is known, each individual in
the population has a specifiable probability
selection and sampling is a random process
nonprobability sampling
the population is not completely known,
individual probabilities cannot be known.
We try to avoid bias and maintain
representativeness
Probability Sampling
Simple random sampling
each individual in the population has an equal
and independent chance of being selected
no individuals are more likely to be chosen
than another

The process of simple random sampling consists of

the following steps:
clearly define the population from which you
want to select a sample
list all the members of the population
using a random process, select individuals from
the list
e.g. children in a class
 Systematic sampling
-sample is obtained by selecting every n-th participant for a
list containing the total population, after a random start
after selecting the first individual it is not random

e.g. every 5th child in a class

 Stratified random sampling
-used when the focus of a research study is on specific
subgroups within a population

Steps in the process:

1. identify the specific subgroups (or strata) to be included in the
sample
2. we select equal random samples from each of the pre-
identified subgroups
3. we combine the subgroup samples into one overall sample
e.g. selecting 25 men and 25 women from an INDV class
Nonprobability Sampling
Convenience sampling
the most commonly used sampling method in psychological
research
researchers simply use as participants those individuals who
are easy to get (e.g. INDV students or volunteers)
2 strategies to help correct most of the serious problems
associated with convenience sampling
researchers try to ensure that their samples are reasonably
representative and not strongly biased
researchers provide a clear description of how the sample was obtained
who the participants are in their research studies
 Quota sampling
researcher first identifies specific
subgroups to be included in the sample
and then establishes quotas for individuals
to be selected from each subgroup
e.g. 30-preschool children, you dont take the
first 30 but impose a quota of 15 girls and 15
boys
The Population
Consists of the totality or aggregate of the
observations with which the researcher is
concerned

Population is an accessible group of people

who meets a well-defined set of eligibility
criteria.
The Specific Population Types:

Target population - is a group of

individuals who meets the criteria.
Subject or respondent population -
refers to a group of individuals
participating in the study.
Strata or stratum - is described as a
mutually exclusive segment of a
population established by one or more
characteristics.
Population and Samples
target population
-the entire set of individuals who have the characteristics required by the
researcher. Although the entire population usually does not participate in
a research study, the results from the study are generalized to the entire
population

e.g. the whole population of people with eating disorders in the world or
the US
accessible population
-a subset of the target population, consisting of those individuals who are
accessible to be recruited as participants in the study
e.g. people with eating disorders in local clinics
the sample
-a subset of the accessible population, consisting of those individuals who
are selected to participate in the research study
10% of the people with eating disorders in local clinics
Target population

Accessible population

sample
 The utmost importance in selecting a population is
that the population should be clearly defined so
that the sample can be accurately identified.
Thank You for Listening
Identify the
participants or
subjects
12 female subjects (20-25 years of age)
and 12 male subjects (19-25 years of
age) would participate in this study.
They would receive a course credit for
their participation in the study. Before
the study, an informed consent would