Sacrifice is a step beyond convenience: A review of convenience sampling in psychological research in Africa

Abstract

Probability and non-probability sampling methods are used by researchers to learn about a population (Maree & Pietersen, 2016). The adequacy of these samples is determined by the composition, size (Vasileiou et al., 2018) and the chosen sample’s representativeness (Hanges & Wang, 2012). Despite being at the heart of research, psychology still pays little attention to sampling methodology (Fisher & Sandell, 2015; Robinson, 2014). Scholtz, De Klerk and De Beer (2020) found a lack of transparency in top-tier miscellaneous international psychology journals regarding the sampling methods. This lack of transparency was evident in articles regardless of the applied research method (e.g. qualitative and quantitative research methods). Furthermore, the justification for using specific sampling techniques is rare in industrial and organisational Orientation: Articles from three African psychology journals were reviewed to indicate their use and reporting practices of convenience samples.