ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on a research plan and explores the key issues associated with choosing research participants. It discusses some sampling methods that are frequently used in social research. The chapter explains what 'generalising' research findings means and why a researcher needs to be careful about doing so. A smaller group selected out of a target population is called a 'sample' and the process of choosing this smaller group is called 'sampling'. There are many different ways of sampling and some of the most frequently used ones are 'random sampling', 'stratified random sampling', 'convenience sampling' and 'snowball sampling'. There are also some statistical measures to use in estimating a sufficient sample size. However, these measures related to statistical power/significance, are probably too complex to deal with regarding children's research projects. 'Representative' is when the sample has the same characteristics as the target population from which it was selected in a range of aspects that may influence the research findings.
