Suppose you want to figure out what to do with your degree in psychology.
You ask some fellow students from your psychology program who recently graduated to find out what they are doing with their degree and how much it pays.
What type of sampling is this? What are the limitations of this sampling approach?
Biased. First of all, are you dealing with bachelors, masters or doctorate levels? Second, they probably do not represent the total population of degree graduates, but only those in your institution, which may or may not be a good representation of the population.
The type of sampling being used in this scenario is convenience sampling. In convenience sampling, individuals are selected based on their accessibility and willingness to participate in the study. In this case, the person is selecting their fellow psychology program graduates because they are easily accessible and can provide information about their career paths and salaries.
However, this sampling approach has several limitations. Firstly, convenience sampling may introduce bias into the results because the sample may not be representative of the larger population of psychology program graduates. For example, if the person only asks a few close friends who may have similar backgrounds and interests, the results may not accurately reflect the variety of careers and salaries that psychology graduates pursue.
Secondly, convenience sampling may lead to a limited range of responses because the sample is restricted to individuals within the person's immediate social circle or network. It could miss out on individuals who have chosen less mainstream career paths or those who are not comfortable disclosing their career and salary information.
Lastly, convenience sampling may also limit the generalizability of the findings. The experiences and salaries of psychology graduates within a specific social circle may not be representative of the broader population of psychology graduates. Therefore, it may not provide a comprehensive understanding of the variety of careers and salary ranges that psychology degree holders can pursue.
To address these limitations, a more rigorous sampling method, such as random sampling or stratified sampling, could be employed to ensure a more representative sample and enhance the generalizability of the findings.