Researchers wanted to investigate whether being in a brightly lit environment compared to a dimly lit environment influences honest behaviour.
80 participants (40 males and 40 females) were recruited. They were either seen exiting a brightly lit, glass-roofed modern art gallery (20 males and 20 females) or seen transitioning out of a dimly lit, underground basement cocktail lounge (20 males and 20 females).
A confederate was instructed to walk slightly ahead of a participant. When the participant was approximately three metres behind, the confederate 'accidentally' dropped a £10 note from their pocket onto the ground.
The participants, who were estimated to be aged between 18–70 years old, were judged to have acted honestly when they called out to the confederate or picked up the note to return it. The confederate recorded the participant's sex, estimated age, whether they returned the money, and the location (exiting the art gallery or the cocktail lounge).
The researchers in the honesty study used opportunity sampling to recruit the participants for their study.
Explain one strength and one weakness of using opportunity sampling for this honesty 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.