Before you choose the method that you’ll use to collect data, you need to think about the size of population you are studying (e.g. the group of visitors to your museum or online exhibition), the characteristics of that population and the amount of data (the sample) that will be representative enough so you can report what you learn with confidence.
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1. Define the population.
Population = the whole group at the centre of the research question.
Who are you trying to learn from? This is your population. You’ve already done this in Phase one - you should know who your key stakeholder(s) are. Ask yourself: can - or should - you survey the whole population?
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4. Calculate your sample.
Sample = a small part of the whole population intended to show what the group is like or experiences
Sampling = gathering information or data from a subset of a larger population, rather than from everyone
You now need to work out how you will sample the (target) population/stakeholder. This is based on an understanding that you can’t hear from everyone, so you have to try to get a sample that is representative enough so that you can report confidently on what you have learned. How can the sample be representative of the whole population?
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Select members of the population at a regular interval that you agree in advance. For example, we would survey every 10th person in a list of ENA members arranged alphabetically.
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