Well, I was a good qualitative research participant and participated in the follow up market survey on the cheese I was chosen to sample a few weeks ago. It really WAS good cheese, I did enjoy it, and even though it was not a struggling PhD student and was in fact a marketing research firm, I felt this peculiar sense of qualitative research solidarity that encouraged me to participate willingly in the survey!

Now when I see people standing about trying to survey people, I am tempted to catch their eye and look like a good random sample choice!

Ah, but then you will become a self-selecting participant!!! and may be therefore unsuitable, just hang about looking as though you don't want to join in, that should make them seek you out

Oh don't talk to me about self-selection and selection-bias. That will be a fat chapter in my thesis

But not about cheese, surely?

OK, the stomach wins...I am starving, so its time to leave the little paperhive of an office and go back to Bleak Towers and find some food.

Yes, but to what extent are these sorts of participants self selected anyway? I mean, many if not most people are avoiding these survey takers like the plague, not making eye contact, dodging them, doing the whole pretending they are not there routine. So people willing to acknowledge the existence of the survey taker are self-selected...? to some extent? biased in being bored, friendly or hungry?

Bored, friendly, hungry and/or strange. I know I have selction bias but I'm in partial denial. It's getting less partial though.

Just had my dinner. A very fine chicken and chorizo stew which goes quite well with this bottle of rioja.

But can I now face another data file........? Hmmm. Or maybe I will slack off and watch the last episode of Lark Rise.

Hot cross buns, one a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns.

Are there any good books on selection bias then? (Ok, so when we were doing the research module for the MA we had to cover everything in just 6 sessions, so although I did it it wasn't that comprehansive) . The survey I am going to do is going to form a very small part of the research work, but will not only be kind of self selecting - it will be from a small group to start with, and I will be asking on the site for participants, but will also be undertaken via the internet, so double trouble there.