Are you going to conduct a qualitative study and are confused about how to apply to purposive sampling? This sampling isn’t only about choosing strata of people to collect data. Instead, you will state every reason for choosing a specific group of individuals for your study. It will provide a logical ground for authentic and genuine research.
According to an article by Scribbr, purposive sampling is especially helpful for students and professionals when they have limited sources and are going to conduct qualitative or mixed-method research. Following a careful approach in purposive sampling isn’t optional; it’s a must because there is a high risk of bias in it.
From providing rational arguments to staying objective in the sampling selection process, you need to define every step logically. In this detailed guide, we will provide you with some important tips that can help you apply purposive sampling to your study.
Top 5 Tips and Tricks to Apply Purposive Sampling in Social Science Research
Choosing a purposive sampling technique is easy, whether for your research article or dissertation. However, the real challenge begins when providing several arguments for selecting this sampling method. Many students cannot state convincing arguments and face issues, such as revisions and rejections.
Paying close attention to these arguments and checking whether they are logical, you must go through previously conducted studies. As a student, it will be tough for you if you are writing a dissertation and choosing this sampling method for the first time. To tackle this problem, you can acquire dissertation writing help online from reliable platforms in the UK, which will allow you to make your writing logical and argumentative, from choosing a sample to adding a conclusion and bibliography.
Here, we will share some secret expert tips that will help you apply purposive sampling in social sciences. Follow them, and the outcome – a flawless dissertation – will be a success for you.
1. Define Selection Criteria
Deciding on a group of people for your study is only one part of the research. In your research paper or dissertation, you will provide a list of reasons that made you choose the purposive sampling method. A researcher has to explain them in detail in the relevant sections. There will be several characteristics of individuals you should consider for this selection. Here are a few common characteristics of the audience:
- Demographics: Let’s say you are conducting a study in the United Kingdom, and you choose the people of London as your target audience. Your supervisor or the committee may ask why you selected London instead of Manchester. And believe us, it’s a solid question everyone asks. You need to prepare your arguments for that question. For instance, you can say that London is convenient for me to collect data and involves a lower cost compared to Manchester. Make sure that every reason for choosing demographics is logical and convincing.
- Expertise: Sometimes, a researcher will choose individuals due to their knowledge or skills. If there are 4000 data scientists in London – just an example – and you are choosing only 500, what’s the reason for this selection and ignoring others? Please ensure that the answer to this question is customised instead of vague arguments. You can choose these people based on the companies they work for, etc.
- Age: If you are going to study the effects of social media on the health of older people, your supervisor or educational institute may ask you not to select youngsters for that study. Do you have a logical answer to this question?
Answering these questions when writing a research paper or thesis requires you to go through books or online libraries. It will enable you to find logical arguments for selecting a specific group of people.
2. Always Stay Objective in Sampling
According to the International Journal of Applied Research, purposive sampling is highly prone to bias. Usually, a researcher or student chooses a specific group of people for their study solely based on their judgment. This judgment, without solid reasons to back it, can lead to flaws in your dissertation or thesis. Undoubtedly, there are personal biases when conducting a study, but there must be arguments to support these biases.
Some students make the mistake of selecting people who support their bias. Let’s say you want to conduct a study on the effects of alcohol on health. Before collecting data, you will design hypotheses for that study. There are two possible hypotheses that you can design:
- Alcohol has severe negative effects on health.
- Alcohol doesn’t affect your health in any way.
After stating these hypotheses, you will predict the outcome of your study. Based on this outcome, if you choose individuals and collect data, it will raise questions over authenticity and genuineness. Your supervisor can ask why your hypotheses are proven to be true, and there is a minimum number of people who disagree with them. Again, it’s a solid and logical argument!
These are some tricks from professional dissertation writers to ensure objectivity in your writing:
- Always choose a mixture of people who can prove and go against your hypotheses. It will provide a solid ground for a non-random purposive sampling approach, enabling you to defend your thesis or writing confidently. Disagreement among participants is key to making your study authentic.
- You can seek external perspectives when selecting this sampling method for your research. For instance, you can discuss it with your supervisor, and he can guide you more in this regard. Moreover, you can seek help from your seniors who have previously chosen purposive sampling for their studies.
3. Use Multiple Purposive Sampling Types
There are multiple methods of purposive sampling, and choosing a mixture of them can build rational arguments for your study. Many researchers choose only one way of sampling and complete their writing, and it’s not recommended when trying to avoid academic penalties.
You can utilise different types in a single study to narrow or widen your participation pool. Additionally, it will make the committee and supervisor believe that you have in-depth knowledge about the data collection methods.
These are the types of purposeful sampling, and you can choose them according to your topic or guidelines set by your institute:
- Maximum Variation Sampling: A researcher employs this sampling method to collect data from a diverse audience. According to Better Evaluation, its purpose is to choose individuals who as vary as much possible from others. For instance, you are conducting a study in a particular state. When you choose participants from villages and cities, it will be known as maximum variation sampling.
- Homogeneous Sampling: As the name suggests, you will consider a specific group of people to collect data for your study. These people can belong to a part of the city, and you can even narrow them down further based on their qualities.
- Typical Case Sampling: You can select participants based on their specific characteristics. For example, you will only choose those people who belong to middle-class families to develop a typical case sample.
- Extreme Case Sampling: A student will employ this sampling method to explain unusual cases. If you study a group of patients who recovered faster than others, it will be extreme case sampling.
- Critical Case Sampling: You can choose a specific group of people to explain other similar cases. This sampling technique isn’t very common in social sciences.
4. Allocate a Section of Your Dissertation
It is common for students to mention the reason for choosing the purposive sampling method in various sections of the dissertation. This practice can decrease the impact of your paper because such repetition can annoy the reader. Instead of following that approach, you can dedicate a section of your thesis or dissertation to explain the rationale for this sampling technique.
Usually, professional researchers explain these reasons in the methodology section. However, it’s not a rule of thumb for everyone to follow. If you are a student, you must be working on a dissertation for your institute. In that case, you can ask about guidelines from your supervisor or admin. Considering these rules, you should explain them in a specific section. Here are some tips for you when explaining purposive sampling in the methodology section:
- Always give a heading for every rationale. These headings will make it easy for the reader to navigate and understand the whole argument.
- Provide logical arguments for this sampling from previous studies. Choose some studies specifically for this section that have not been discussed in the literature review.
- Always discuss the rationale with your supervisor before finalising it in your dissertation, reducing the risk of errors.
5. Be Careful of Data Saturation
Do you know how data saturation can decrease the efficacy of your study? According to Qualtrics, data saturation is a point in data collection where you realise that you are not getting new insights from the targeted sampling.
Expert researchers argue that ignoring data saturation doesn’t contribute to academic research because it doesn’t bring originality and new ideas. As a researcher, you have to stop collecting data in purposive sampling when you feel that there are no new, meaningful observations.
These tricks can help you avoid data saturation in your study:
- Pay close attention to the responses collected from every user and read them thoroughly. Usually, the sampling is not very large, and it will be easy for you to go through every response.
- Find out if there is any loophole in your questionnaire that is causing data saturation and try to overcome this issue as soon as possible.
What is Purposive Sampling in Qualitative Research?
In qualitative research, purposive sampling is synonymous with selective or judgmental sampling. A researcher chooses his target audience based on specific characteristics, such as demographics or age.
The goal of this purposeful sampling is to create a reasonable representation of a large audience because conducting a study on such a big audience requires a lot of financial resources and time. This sampling technique allows students and professionals to draw strata of people from thousands and collect data from them. Later, results can be generalised to the overall population.
What’s the Difference Between Convenience vs Purposive Sampling?
In convenience sampling, a researcher selects individuals due to the ease of their access. For instance, if I am in London, I will choose people for my study from there because they are accessible.
On the other hand, a researcher selects individuals purposefully in purposive sampling due to their specific characteristics, such as age or gender. Both sampling techniques are effective in data collection, and you can utilise them according to the requirements of your educational institute.
How to Decide on Purposive Sampling for Dissertations or Research Papers?
First of all, you need to remember that purposive sampling is usually used in qualitative research. If you are going to conduct interviews or case studies, it will be perfect for the data collection method for your study.
However, if you are employing a survey for your dissertation or research article, the chances are high that your supervisor will not allow you to use purposive sampling. Always get guidance from your peers or supervisor, and read previous research articles when deciding on purposive sampling.
Conclusion
Choosing purposive sampling for a qualitative study is like running on a steep rock because at every step, you need a careful approach to give a rationale for it. A researcher also must avoid bias in sampling just to prove their hypotheses. Moreover, you will have to satisfy the educational committe of your institute about why this sampling is essential for your study.
It can be difficult for a student to go through it all alone. Without professional help, they will make mistakes not only in sampling but also in explaining results. How can students overcome this issue? The best dissertation writing services in the UK can help them navigate this challenging shore. You can contact them anytime and get their cost-effective assistance to complete and submit your dissertation and earn your degree.
Author Bio
Amber Rose is a dedicated dissertation writer specialising in curating dissertations and assignments for social science students. With rich experience in academic writing, Amber helps students in various situations, from selecting samples to adding detailed bibliographies.
