Analysis of Sample Selection,Sample Composition and Research Design: A Review of the past Decade's Contributions to the South African Journal of Psychology

Abstract

Afrikaans

This review of research published in the South African Journal of Psychology (SAJP) between 1979 and 1988 included analyses of populations, methods of sample selection, some aspects of sample composition, types of research design employed and approaches to knowledge building. Altogether 149 articles (containing 159 studies) were reviewed. Accessible populations were defined in 67% of the contributions, but in only 3% of the studies were useful descriptions of these populations provided. Only 18% of the studies made use of randomized sample selection procedures while 25% did not explain the procedure used to select their samples. Explicit recognition of population and sample limitations in drawing conclusions was found in only 7% and 19% of the studies respectively. Also, 31% of all samples were drawn from student populations. Eighty-three per cent of the studies were intra-culturally oriented, but nearly half of these made use of only white samples. A fairly small number of cross-cultural studies (17%) were recorded. Research designs most frequently adopted were correlational type studies (45%) while the favoured approach to knowledge building was to extend findings (57%) rather than to test theory or replicate prior research. A comparison with a similar analysis of the American Educational Research Journal revealed that mostly only minor differences exist between the two journals. Other topics addressed included an examination of trends over time, the implications of using non-randomized samples, the low incidence of cross-cultural studies and the limited attention paid to replication approaches to knowledge building.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Badenhorst

J.C.C.

(1989). Inligting — OASSA (Information-OASSA). Newsletter: The Psychological Association of South Africa, 2, 5.

Bakan

(1967). On method: Toward a reconstruction of psychological investigation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Biesheuvel

(1987). Cross-cultural psychology: Its relevance to South Africa. In Mauer

K.F.

Retief

A.I.

(Eds), Psychology in context: Cross-cultural research trends in South Africa. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council.

Bracht

G.F.

Glass

G.V.

(1968). The external validity of experiments. American Educational Research Journal, 5, 437–474.

Campbell

D.T.

Boruch

R.F.

(1975). Making the case for randomized assignment to treatments by considering the alternatives. In Bennett

C.A.

Lumsdaine

A.A.

(Eds), Evaluation and experiments: Some critical problems in assessing social programs. New York: Academic Press.

Campbell

D.T.

Stanley

J.C.

(1963). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research. Chicago: Rand McNally.

Campbell

K.E.

Jackson

T.T.

(1979). The role of and need for replication research in social psychology. Replications in Social Psychology, 1, 3–14.

Carver

R.P.

(1978). The case against statistical significance testing. Harvard Educational Review, 48, 378–399.

Christensen

L.B.

(1985). Experimental methodology. (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

10.

Cook

T.D.

Campbell

D.T.

(1979). Quasi-experimentation: Design and analysis issues for field settings. Chicago: Rand McNally.

11.

Cronbach

L.J.

(1975). Beyond the two disciplines of scientific psychology. American Psychologist, 30, 116–127.

12.

Deregowski

J.B.

(1982). Cross-cultural psychology: An eclectic and idiosyncratic view. South African Journal of Psychology, 12, 31–37.

13.

Gilbert

(1989). Things fall apart? Psychological theory in the context of rapid social change. South African Journal of Psychology, 19, 91–100.

14.

Goodwin

L.D.

Goodwin

W.L.

(1985). Statistical techniques in AERJ articles, 1979–1983: The preparation of graduate students to read the educational research literature. Educational Researcher, 14(2), 5–11.

15.

Hays

W.L.

(1988). Statistics. (4th ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

16.

Holdstock

T.L.

(1981). Psychology in South Africa belongs to the colonial era. Arrogance or ignorance?

South African

Journal of Psychology, 11, 123–129.

17.

Huysamen

G.K.

(1984). Introductory statistics and research design for the behavioural sciences, Vol. II (2nd ed.). Cape Town: Academica.

18.

Kerlinger

F.N.

(1986). Foundations of behavioural research. (3rd ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

19.

Levenson

Gray

Ingram

(1976). Current research methods in personality: Five years after Carlson's survey. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2, 158–161.

20.

Manicas

P.T.

Secord

P.F.

(1983). Implications for psychology of the new philosophy of science. American Psychologist, April, 399–413.

21.

Mauer

K.F.

Retief

A.I.

(1987). Preface. In Mauer

K.F.

Retief

A.I.

(Eds), Psychology in context: Cross-cultural research trends in South Africa. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council.

22.

McNemar

(1946). Opinion — attitude methodology. Psychological Bulletin, 43, 289–374.

23.

Neale

J.M.

Liebert

R.M.

(1986). Science and behaviour: An introduction to methods of research. (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

24.

Oakes

(1972). External validity and the use of real people as subjects. American Psychologist, 27, 959–962.

25.

Retief

A.I.

(1988). Method and theory in cross-cultural psychological assessment. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council.

26.

Shaver

J.P.

(1979). The productivity of educational research and the applied-basic research distinction. Educational Researcher, 8(1), 3–9.

27.

Shaver

J.P.

Norton

R.S.

(1980). Randomness and replication in ten years of the American Educational Research Journal. Educational Researcher, 9(1), 9–15.

28.

Smart

(1966). Subject selection bias in psychological research. Canadian Psychologist, 7, 115–121.

29.

Strümpfer

D.J.W.

(1981). Towards a more socially responsive psychology. South African Journal of Psychology, 11, 18–28.

30.

Tukey

J.W.

(1969). Analyzing data: Sanctification or detective work? American Psychologist, 24, 83–91.

31.

Van Staden

E.J.

Visser

(1990). Analysis of themes and statistical techniques: A review of the past decade of the South African Journal of Psychology. South African Journal of Psychology, 20(1), 47–55.