Here are the steps involved in Judgmental Sampling:
1. Clearly Define the Research Question: Before selecting participants, researchers need to have a well-defined research question that identifies the information or insights they seek. The question guides which participants will be suitable.
2. Choosing Informative Participants: Researchers intentionally choose participants who are expected to provide rich, valuable information related to the research. It's not about selecting a representative sample but rather gathering in-depth knowledge from selected individuals.
3. Utilize Information and Experience: Researchers rely on their prior knowledge, expertise, or experience to identify suitable participants. This can involve leveraging their own subject-matter expertise, existing research, or recommendations from colleagues.
4. Identify Key Characteristics: Participants are chosen based on specific characteristics or traits relevant to the research. These characteristics could be related to expertise, experience, viewpoints, involvement, or unique perspectives.
5. Snowball Sampling: Often, researchers use a snowball sampling technique in judgmental sampling. They identify key participants and ask them to suggest additional individuals they know who fit the desired criteria. This process can lead to the discovery of more suitable participants.
6. Saturation: Researchers continue selecting participants until they reach saturation, which means no new relevant information or insights are gained by including additional participants.
It's important to note that judgmental sampling is not representative of the entire population. It aims to gather detailed information from individuals with specific characteristics, contributing to a comprehensive understanding of the topic under investigation. This approach is commonly used in qualitative research, case studies, and exploratory studies, where in-depth analysis is more important than generalizability.