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Random sampling
This is a sampling technique which is defined as a sample in which every member of the population has an equal chance of being chosen. This involves identifying everyone in the target Population and then selecting the number of participants you need in a way that gives everyone in the Population an equal chance of being picked. For example, you could put all of the names of the students at your college in a hat and pick out however many you need.
Random sampling is the best technique for providing an unbiased representative sample of a target population.
However Random sampling does have limitations. Random sampling can be very time consuming and is often impossible to carry out, particularly when you have a large target population, of say all students. For example if you do not have the names of all the people in your target Population you would struggle to conduct a random sample. If you ask people to volunteer for a study the sample is already not Random as some people may be more or less likely to volunteer for things. Similarly if you decided to put out an advert for participants it would be almost impossible to guarantee that every member of your target population has an equal chance of viewing the advert.
