Explain the rationale for the sample size in quantitative research.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Ans: Answer would ideally include: Quantitative research studies by design focus on clearly defined and measurable criteria so as to increase generalization to other settings. Another important aspect of sampling for quantitative studies is related to representativeness. Because of these things, it is appropriate to select samples very carefully in very calculated ways that are large enough to achieve generalizability and representativeness. Determining the exact number of participants for each sample is not an easy or simple process and, essentially, “depends on the nature of the study, the research questions guiding the study, the specific makeup of the population to which the results will be generalized, and many other similar decisions, all of which are unique to individual studies.” Gay and colleagues (2009) offer guidelines for determining sample size that emphasize population size: “The larger the population size, the smaller the percentage of the population required to get a representative sample.”