Representativeness
The extent to which a research sample reflects the characteristics of the whole population, enabling findings to be generalised beyond the sample.
Real World
When YouGov polls UK voting intentions, they weight their online samples to match census data on age, sex, and region — because an unweighted internet sample would over-represent younger, urban respondents and make predictions unreliable.
Exam Focus
Link representativeness directly to generalisability in every answer — examiners expect you to explain why an unrepresentative sample limits what conclusions can be drawn.
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