The Trick of Sampling
According to Howard Becker in his book Tricks of the Trade: How to think about Your Research while You're doing It, a trick is a "simple device that helps you solve a problem." (Becker, 1998, pg.2). The tricks that fill the pages of this book help solve the problem of thinking, or in other words, it helps students learn how to think about research projects (Becker, 1998, pg. 3). The book is broken down to four basic topics: imagery (guides the research), sampling (finding maximum variety in the data), concepts (organizing findings), and logic (using logical methods to finding information). For this blog, I will concentrate on the chapter covering sampling, chapter 3; what to include.
The main problem with researching is that that people cannot study "every case of whatever we're intrested in, nore should we want to." (Becker, 1998, pg. 67). Sampling is a way for a researcher to come to a conclusion without studying everything possible on a subject. Not to say that sampling does not have problems of its own. A problem is that there is a chance that the part, or sample, may not clearly represent the whole like the researcher would want to think (Becker, 1998, pg. 67). Even though there is a slight problem in sampling, it is still used as a creditable type of obtaining research.
The main type of sampling described by Becker is titled "Random Sampling: A Perfect Solution For Some Problems". Since we know that is not possible to get information we need from every source or every person we need, we have to complete a random sample and assume that this sample represents the whole of whatever it is we may need. An example given by Becker is sampling people in a certain area to see if they see themselves as Democratic voters, voted for a Democrat in the last election, or plan on voting for a Democratic in the future. Since we physically cannot ask every person in that area without it taking months or years, we instead sample a group and assume that the whole is consistant with the sample we take (Becker, 1998, pg. 68). The best way to choose who to sample is by random with the least chance of bias. This is known as statistical sampling, according to Becker (pg. 68).
Besides the main sampling method, the need to know how much to analyze or how much detail needs to be included. Becker says that he always tells his students to "begin their observations and interviews by writing down 'everything'." (Becker, 1998, pg. 76). In reality, they cannot write down everything, but giving them a push to write as much as they can down will only help them with their research. Social Scientists, Becker's name for his sampling students, have a task to overcome which is desifering "the appropriate ratio of description to interpretation..." (Becker, 1998, pg. 79). Students do not want a lot of description or detail and they want to eliminate as many issues they have to deal with. This being said, there is not a way to describe and interpret everything researched, but selection is possible and needs to be done in order to finish sampling or researching.
Becker goes on to describe may different aspects of sampling in this chapter. He discusses categories, the fact that anything is possible, a short section on other people's ideas, and the fact that "everybody knows that", among others topics. Although these are all important, the actual sampling method as well as how to analyze or decide how much detail needs to be included in sampling and research seems the most important in the overall message of this chapter.
References
Becker, H. (1998). Tricks of the Trade: How to Think about Your Research While You're Doing It. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.