FIELD METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY
MODULE 3: STRENGTHENING RESEARCH FINDINGS
UNIT 1: SAMPLING AND REPRESENTATIVENESS
- The strength of research relies on validity and reliability.
- Validity and reliability is reliant on research methodology.
- Regardless of the research method used, choosing a sample is considered to be one of the most crucial
parts of research as the main goal is to measure a sample, and generalize our findings to the population.
- In selecting participants, an important question to ask is; ‘who will participate in our study?’, ‘how
large should the sample be’, ‘how can we make generalizations based on a sample?’
- Important terms in sampling as learned in psychological statistics:
o Population (N)
- All people, animals, or things that have on or more common characteristics.
- Example: All Psychology undergraduate students, all members of the LGBTQ+
community living in Baguio.
o Sample (n)
- A relative number or subset of individuals from the desired population considering that we
cannot get the entire population as our participants.
o Representativeness
- How close the sample resembles or mirrors the population.
- The sample must be representative of the populating to be able to make conclusions or
generalizations about the population.
o Sampling
- The process on how we decide who will be the sample for our research.
ENGAGE: WHY CHOOSE A SAMPLE AND NOT THE POPULATION
- It is important to know that the SAMPLE must be a REPRESENTATIVE of the POPULATION.
- Think of it this way: Hawaiian Pizza include the following ingredients; meat, cheese, and pineapple.
As an individual, you cannot eat the whole pizza so you just take a slice of it. But to be able to call it a
slice of Hawaiian Pizza it must contain all the ingredients previously mentioned; if not, then essentially,
it’s not Hawaiian Pizza.
- As psychology deals with humans, the sample that we choose must contain all the attributes that we
have chosen for our population.
- If we want to study single women living in the Philippines, the sample should not include men, people
who are in a relationship, and who are not living in the Philippines.
MODULE 3: STRENGTHENING RESEARCH FINDINGS
UNIT 1: SAMPLING AND REPRESENTATIVENESS
- The strength of research relies on validity and reliability.
- Validity and reliability is reliant on research methodology.
- Regardless of the research method used, choosing a sample is considered to be one of the most crucial
parts of research as the main goal is to measure a sample, and generalize our findings to the population.
- In selecting participants, an important question to ask is; ‘who will participate in our study?’, ‘how
large should the sample be’, ‘how can we make generalizations based on a sample?’
- Important terms in sampling as learned in psychological statistics:
o Population (N)
- All people, animals, or things that have on or more common characteristics.
- Example: All Psychology undergraduate students, all members of the LGBTQ+
community living in Baguio.
o Sample (n)
- A relative number or subset of individuals from the desired population considering that we
cannot get the entire population as our participants.
o Representativeness
- How close the sample resembles or mirrors the population.
- The sample must be representative of the populating to be able to make conclusions or
generalizations about the population.
o Sampling
- The process on how we decide who will be the sample for our research.
ENGAGE: WHY CHOOSE A SAMPLE AND NOT THE POPULATION
- It is important to know that the SAMPLE must be a REPRESENTATIVE of the POPULATION.
- Think of it this way: Hawaiian Pizza include the following ingredients; meat, cheese, and pineapple.
As an individual, you cannot eat the whole pizza so you just take a slice of it. But to be able to call it a
slice of Hawaiian Pizza it must contain all the ingredients previously mentioned; if not, then essentially,
it’s not Hawaiian Pizza.
- As psychology deals with humans, the sample that we choose must contain all the attributes that we
have chosen for our population.
- If we want to study single women living in the Philippines, the sample should not include men, people
who are in a relationship, and who are not living in the Philippines.
