ABSTRACT
The main thrust of Chapter 10 focuses on data sources. Data sources are the people or objects by which researchers collect information or evidence to answer their research questions. For research that does not involve human participants, data sources may include existing data, historical data found in artifacts, or document reviews. For research that requires data to be collected from human participants, careful selection of the appropriate participants is a critical step in the research process. This chapter defines population and sample as two primary constructs to be considered in any research project. Population and sample are differentiated in this chapter, and examples for each are given. The process of selecting a sample that is representative of a particular population is called sampling. Various sampling strategies are introduced and defined in this chapter as well. Each of the sampling strategies presented is accompanied by a practical example of when to employ such a strategy. Stratification is defined as well, and an example of stratification is outlined. The chapter is useful for dissertators and researchers who are embarking upon their first research project, who may have questions about how many participants is “enough” to include, or to provide ways to statistically check the appropriateness of the sample size. Finally, the chapter concludes with strategies to employ when purposefully selecting a small number of participants or objects to include for a qualitative research study.
