Sampling in Interview-Based Qualitative Research: A Theoretical and Practical Guide

Qualitative Research in Psychology

Volumn 11, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 25-41

  Robinson, Oliver C ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

case study; purposive sampling; quota sampling; random sampling; recruitment; sample size; sampling; stratified sampling; theoretical sampling

Indexed keywords

EID: 84888127213     PISSN: 14780887     EISSN: 14780895     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/14780887.2013.801543     Document Type: Article

References (53)

1. Abrams, LS. 2010. Sampling 'hard to reach' populations in qualitative research: the case of incarcerated youth. Qualitative Social Work, 9: 536 - 50.
2. Biernacki, P and Waldorf, D. 1981. Snowball sampling: problems and techniques of chain referral sampling. Sociological Methods and Research, 10: 141 - 63.
3. Coleman, T, Williams, M and Wilson, A. 1996. Sampling for qualitative research using quantitative methods. 1. Measuring GPs' attitudes towards discussing smoking with patients. Family Practice, 13: 526 - 30.
4. Conrad, CF. 1978. A grounded theory of academic change. Sociology of Education, 51: 101 - 12.
5. Costigan, CL and Cox, MJ. 2001. Fathers' participation in family research: is there a self-selection bias?. Journal of Family Psychology, 15: 706 - 20.
6. Coyne, IT. 1997. Sampling in qualitative research. Purposeful and theoretical sampling; merging or clear boundaries?. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 26: 623 - 30.
7. Devers, KJ and Frankel, RM. 2000. Study design in qualitative research-2: sampling and data collection strategies. Education for Health, 13: 263 - 71.
8. Dindia, K and Allen, M. 1992. Sex differences in self-disclosure: a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 112: 106 - 24.
9. Draucker, CB, Martsolf, DS, Ross, R and Rusk, TB. 2007. Theoretical sampling and category development in grounded theory. Qualitative Health Research, 17: 1137 - 48.
10. Erikson, E. 1969. Ghandi's truth, New York: W. W. Norton.
11. Erikson, E. 1993. Young man Luther: a study in psychoanalysis and history, New York: W. W. Norton.
12. Eysenck, H. 1976. " 'Introduction' ". In Case studies in behavioural therapy, Edited by: Eysenck, H. 1 - 15. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
13. Festinger, L, Riecken, HW and Schacter, S. 1956. When prophecy fails: a social and psychological study of a modern group that predicted the end of the world, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
14. Glaser, B. 1978. Theoretical sensitivity: advances in grounded theory, Mill Valley, CA: The Sociology Press.
15. Guest, G, Bunce, A and Johnson, L. 2006. How many interviews are enough? An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field Methods, 18: 59 - 82.
16. Hamilton, RJ and Bowers, BJ. 2006. Internet recruitment and e-mail interviews in qualitative studies. Qualitative Health Research, 16: 821 - 35.
17. Heckathorn, DD. 1997. Respondent-driven sampling: a new approach to the study of hidden populations. Social Problems, 44: 174 - 99.
18. Heckathorn, DD. 2002. Respondent-driven sampling II: deriving valid population estimates from chain-referral samples of hidden populations. Social Problems, 49: 11 - 34.
19. Hodgins, DC and Peden, N. 2008. Cognitive-behavioral treatment for impulse control disorders. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria, 30: S31 - 40.
20. Johnstone, LG and Sabin, K. 2010. Sampling hard-to-reach populations with respondent driven sampling. Methodological Innovations Online, 5: 38 - 48.
21. Leshan, L. 1990. The dilemma of psychology, London: Penguin Books.
22. Lindesmith, AR. 1968. Addiction and opiates, Chicago: Aldine.
23. Luborsky, MR and Rubinstein, RL. 1995. Sampling in qualitative research: rationale, issues and methods. Research on Aging, 17: 89 - 113.
24. Mason, J. 2002. Qualitative researching, 2nd, London: Sage.
25. McAdams, D and Schultz, T. 2010. George W. Bush and the redemptive dream: a psychological profile, Oxford University Press, New York.
26. McAdams, D and West, S. 1997. Introduction: personality psychology and the case study. Journal of Personality, 65: 757 - 83.
27. Miles, MB and Huberman, AM. 1994. Qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook, 2nd, London: Sage.
28. Murray, J, Schneider, J, Banerjee, S and Mann, A. 1999. EUROCARE: a cross-national study of coresident spouse carers for people with Alzheimer's disease: II-a qualitative analysis of the experience of caregiving. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 14: 662 - 7.
29. Neisser, U. 1981. John Dean's memory: a case study. Cognition, 9: 1 - 22.
30. O'Connor, DJ and Wolfe, DM. 1987. On managing midlife transitions in career and family. Human Relations, 40: 799 - 816.
31. Patton, MQ. 1990. Qualitative evaluation and research methods, 2nd, Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
32. Querstret, D and Robinson, OC. 2013. Person, persona and personality modification: an in-depth qualitative exploration of quantitative findings. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 10: 140 - 59. doi: 10.1080/14780887.2011.586450
33. Reicher, S. 1996. The 'battle of Westminster': developing the social identity model of crowd behaviour in order to explain the initiative and development of collective conflict. European Journal of Social Psychology, 26: 115 - 34.
34. Robinson, OC. 2008. 'Development crisis and the self in early adulthood: a composite qualitative analysis', doctoral dissertation, London: Birkbeck College.
35. Robinson, OC. 2012. A war of words: the history of the idiographic/nomothetic debate. The Psychologist, 25: 164 - 7.
36. Robinson, OC and Griffiths, A. 2004. Coping with the stress of transformation change in a government department: a qualitative study. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 41: 204 - 21.
37. Robinson, OC and Smith, JA. 2010a. Investigating the form and dynamics of crisis episodes in early adulthood: the application of a composite qualitative method. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 7: 170 - 91.
38. Robinson, OC and Smith, JA. 2010b. " A case study of pre-midlife crisis: an extraordinary transformational episode in an ordinary life ". In Narrative, memory and ordinary lives, Edited by: Robinson, D, Fisher, P, Yeadon-Lee, T, Robinson, SJ and Woodcock, P. 145 - 57. Huddersfield: University of Huddersfield Press.
39. Robinson, OC, Wright, GRT and Smith, JA. 2013. The holistic phase model of early adult crisis. Journal of Adult Development, 20: 27 - 37. doi: 10.1007/s10804-013-9153-y
40. Sandelowski, M, Holditch-Davis, D and Harris, BG. 1992. " 'Using qualitative and quantitative methods: the transition to parenthood of infertile couples' ". In Qualitative methods in family research, Edited by: Gilgun, JF, Daly, K and Handel, G. 301 - 22. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
41. Schneider, J, Murray, J, Banerjee, S and Mann, A. 1999. EUROCARE: a cross-national study of co-resident spouse carers for people with Alzheimer's disease: factors associated with carer burden. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 14: 651 - 61.
42. Silverman, D. 2010. Doing qualitative research, 3rd, London: Sage.
43. Simonton, DK. 1999. Significant samples: the psychological study of eminent individuals. Psychological Methods, 4: 425 - 51.
44. Smith, JA, Flowers, P and Larkin, M. 2009. Interpretative phenomenological analysis: theory, method and research, London: Sage.
45. Sparkes, A. 2004. Bodies, narratives, selves and autobiography: the example of Lance Armstrong. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 28: 397 - 428.
46. Strauss, AL. 1987. Qualitative analysis for social scientists, New York: Cambridge University Press.
47. Strauss, AL and Corbin, J. 1998. Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory, London: Sage.
48. Trost, JA. 1986. Statistically nonrepresentative stratified sampling: a sampling technique for qualitative studies. Qualitative Sociology, 9: 54 - 7.
49. Wang, J, Carlson, RG, Falck, RS, Siegal, HA, Rahman, A and Li, L. 2005. Respondent-driven sampling to recruit MDMA users: a methodological assessment. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 78: 147 - 57.
50. Wethington, E. 2000. Expecting stress. Americans and the midlife crisis', Motivation and Emotion, 24: 85 - 103.
51. Yancey, AK, Ortega, AN and Kumanyika, SK. 2006. Effective recruitment and retention of minority research participants. Annual Review of Public Health, 27: 1 - 28.
52. Yardley, L. 2000. Dilemmas in qualitative health psychology. Psychology and Health, 15: 215 - 28.
53. Yin, RK. 2009. Case study research: design and methods, 4th, London: Sage.