A male confederate was in a shopping centre for three hours on two different Monday mornings. On the first Monday he wore a suit and on the second he wore gym clothing. Each Monday he asked passers-by if they would be willing to sign up to the same children’s charity. The research used an opportunity sample.
(d) Describe one issue of validity in this research, and explain one way to deal with this issue.
[4]
One issue of validity is the use of opportunity sampling. This sampling technique is not representative as the confederate chose the participants at his own convenience as people passed him in the shopping centre on a Monday, which could create bias. One way to deal with this issue is to improve the method of sampling. For example the confederate could use a systematic sampling technique, which removes an element of researcher bias and makes the sample more representative of people who will be willing to give to charity when a man wears a suit or gym clothing.