Researchers wanted to investigate whether being in immediate proximity to urban green spaces would influence cooperative behaviour.
60 participants (30 males and 30 females) were recruited. They were either seen to be exiting a public leafy park in a residential area of London (15 males and 15 females) or were seen transitioning out of a crowded, concrete underground subway station with no greenery (15 males and 15 females).
A male confederate was instructed to appear confused while holding a large unfolded map and a travel mug. When a participant was approximately three metres away, the confederate 'accidentally' dropped a set of printed tourist directions and struggled to retrieve them while holding his mug.
The participants, who were estimated to be aged between 18–65 years old, were judged to have cooperated when they offered to pick up the directions or helped guide the confederate. The confederate recorded the participant's sex, estimated age, whether they cooperated or not, and the location (exiting the public park or the subway station).
The researchers in the cooperative behaviour study used opportunity sampling to recruit the participants for their study.
Explain one strength and one weakness of using opportunity sampling for this cooperative behaviour study.
638 exam-style questions on Edexcel A Level Psychology Methods. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.