Convenience Sampling Methods in Psychology: A Comparison Between Crowdsourced and Student Samples.
Traditional convenience sampling methods relying solely on student participants have raised concerns about the external validity of psychology research findings. Crowdsourced participant sampling methods, like Qualtrics online panels, may offer a viable alternative by minimizing barriers to external...
| Published in: | Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science Vol. 57; no. 3; pp. 229 - 239 |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article |
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Canadian Psychological Association
Jul2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=186165205&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 186165205 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 0008400X FYI jtl: Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science issn: 0008400X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jul2025 vid: 57 iid: 3 pid: 98 pub: Canadian Psychological Association artinfo: ui: 186165205 10.1037/cbs0000394 ppf: 229 ppct: 10 formats: tig: atl: Convenience Sampling Methods in Psychology: A Comparison Between Crowdsourced and Student Samples. aug: au: Novielli, Julia Kane, Leanne Ashbaugh, Andrea R. affil: Department of Psychology, University of Ottawa su: Canada Crowdsourcing Self-evaluation Mental health Human research subjects Universities & colleges Age distribution Psychology Race Marital status Sociodemographic factors Psychology of college students Employment Psychiatric diagnosis Patient selection Statistical sampling Descriptive statistics Comparative studies sug: subj: Crowdsourcing Self-evaluation Mental health Human research subjects Universities & colleges Age distribution Psychology Race Marital status Sociodemographic factors Psychology of college students Employment Canada Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians) Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools Psychiatric diagnosis Patient selection Statistical sampling Descriptive statistics Comparative studies keyword: convenience samples crowdsourced data Qualtrics student samples validity échantillons d'étudiants échantillons de commodité données issues de production participative validité convenience samples crowdsourced data Qualtrics student samples validity échantillons d'étudiants échantillons de commodité données issues de production participative validité ab: Traditional convenience sampling methods relying solely on student participants have raised concerns about the external validity of psychology research findings. Crowdsourced participant sampling methods, like Qualtrics online panels, may offer a viable alternative by minimizing barriers to external validity. However, our understanding of the reliability and external validity of data from these sources is limited. Utilizing secondary data from a larger study conducted in Canada, the present study sought to explore differences between a Qualtrics-recruited sample (n = 295) and a sample recruited via a university participant pool (n = 270) on sociodemographic characteristics, participant response characteristics, and mental health variables. Differences were found between sample source on sociodemographic characteristics such as participant age, racial background, marital status, and occupational status. The samples differed on participant response characteristics, with the Qualtrics sample demonstrating a higher failure rate on the total attention check measure and shorter survey completion time compared to the student sample. The sample sources also differed on mental health, with a higher prevalence of self-reported mental disorder diagnosis and higher levels of depression, anxiety, stress, and social anxiety symptoms in the Qualtrics sample compared to the student sample. Findings suggest that although Qualtrics panel data may be of lower quality than that of student pool samples with regard to attentive responding, it may still provide a useful recruitment source for clinical and occupational psychology researchers. When deciding on a recruitment method, researchers in psychology should aim to balance convenient access to representative samples with data quality. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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