Sampling

Sampling Method
 A sample is small specimen of the whole
population, representing its general
qualities.
 Sampling Technique is a procedure for
the selection of a sample from the given
population, reflecting its characteristics.
 A sample is a subset of a
larger population of objects
individuals, households,
businesses, organizations
and so forth.

Sampling enables researchers

to make estimates of some
unknown characteristics of
Population
Population the population in question

A finite group is called population

Sample
Sample whereas a non-finite (infinite)
group is called universe

A census is a investigation of all

the individual elements of a
population
Reasons for Sampling
 Budget and time Constraints (in case of large populations)

 High degree of accuracy and reliability (if sample is

representative of population)

 Sampling may sometimes produce more accurate results than

taking a census as in the latter, there are more risks for making
interviewer and other errors due to the high volume of persons
contacted and the number of census takers, some of whom may
not be well-trained

 Industrial production and import / export

 The Sampling Process
Plan
Plan procedure
procedure for
for
selecting
selecting sampling
sampling units
units

44

Determine
Determine ifif aa probability
probability
33 or
or non-probability
non-probability sampling
sampling Determine
Determine sample
sample size
size 55
method
method will
will bebe chosen
chosen

22 Select
Select aa Select
Select actual
actual sampling
sampling units
units 66
Sampling
Sampling Frame
Frame

Define
Define the
the Target
Target
11 Conduct
Conduct fieldwork
fieldwork 77
population
population
Defining the Target Population
 The target population is that complete
group whose relevant characteristics are
to be determined through the sampling

 A target population may be, for example,

all faculty members in the Department of
Management Sciences
The Sampling Frame
 The sampling frame is a list of all those population
elements that will be used in the sample

 Examples of sampling frames are:

 a student telephone directory (for the student population),
 the list of companies on the stock exchange,
 the directory of medical doctors and specialists,
 the yellow pages (for businesses)

 It should be error free (should not have sampling

frame error)
 Must be complete, accurate, adequate and upto date.
Sampling Units
 The sampling unit is a single element – or group
of elements – subject to selection in a sample.
Examples:

 Every student at IMCOST whose first name begins

with the letter “A”
 All child passengers under 18 years of age who are
traveling in a train from destination X to destination Y
 All jeweler shops in sectors F-6, F-7 and F-8 in
Mumbai
Issues in Sample Design and
Selection
 Accuracy – Samples should be representative of
the target population (less accuracy is required for
exploratory research than for conclusive research
projects)
 Resources – Time, money and individual or
institutional capacity are very important
considerations due to the limitation on them. Often,
these resources must be “traded” against accuracy
Issues in Sample Design and
Selection
 Availability of Information – Often information on potential
sample participants in the form of lists, directories etc. is
unavailable (especially in developing countries) which makes
some sampling techniques (e.g. systematic sampling)
impossible to undertake

 Geographical Considerations – The number and dispersion

of population elements may determine the sampling technique
used (e.g. cluster sampling)

 Statistical Analysis – This should be performed only on

samples which have been created through probability sampling
(i.e. not probability sampling)
Adv of Sampling
 Limits their requirements of time, money
and manpower.
 Administrative convenience.
 More accurate data collected due to its
limited size
 Physical impossibility of complete
enumeration necessitates sampling
Dis-adv of sampling
 Chances of bias
 Difficulty of accuracy
 Difficulty of obtaining a representative sample.
 Lack of trained manpower
 Non-availability of informants
 Possibility for error in sampling
 Inadequacy of samples.
Types of sample
Simple Random Sampling
Stratified Random Sampling
Random Sampling or Systematic Sampling Random
probability sampling Cluster Sampling
Sequential Sampling
Multi-Stage Sampling
Sampling with Probability

Non-Random Quota Sampling

Sampling or Non- Convenience Sampling
probability sampling
ON the spot sampling
or Judgment
Sampling Judgment sampling
Snowball sampling
Types of sample
 Probability/Random : each sample has known
probability of being included in the sample.
 E.g. simple random sampling, systematic sampling,
stratified sampling, cluster/area sampling
 Non-probability/Non-random : do not allow
researcher to determine probability of being
included.
 E.g.convenience sampling, judgment sampling and
quota sampling.
Probability Sampling Methods
Simple Random
 Simple Random Sampling – This is a technique
which ensures that each element in the
population has an equal chance of being
selected for the sample

 Example: Choosing raffle tickets from a drum,

computer-generated selections, random-digit
telephone dialing

 The major advantage of simple random sampling is

its simplicity
Simple Random

 Also known as chance sampling/probability

sampling where each and every unit has
an equal chance of inclusion in the sample
and has same probability of being
selected.
 Each item in population has equal chance
of being included.
 Simple sampling :

Probability of selection of each unit = 1/N

 Systematic /Purposive
 Selection of the first unit of the sample from
the population is based on randomization.
 The remaining units of the sample are
selected from the population at fixed interval
of n, where n is ample size
Let,
Size of population (N) be = 800
Sample size (n) be = 40
Sampling frame are divided into n number of intervals based on ratio N/n
Therefore, Sampling Interval width, I = N/n = 800/40 = 20
Thereby, sampling frame consist of unit 800, range is divided into 40 intervals
1-20,21-40,41-60,61-80…
Systematic /Purposive
 An element of randomness is usually introduced into this kind of
sampling by using random numbers to pick up with which to
start.

 E.g. every 10th name of the list.

 Example: From a list of 1500 name entries, a name on the list is
randomly selected and then (say) every 25th name thereafter.
The sampling interval in this case would equal 25.

 For systematic sampling to work best, the list should be

random in nature.
Stratified Random
 Improvised sampling over simple random.
 In this , population is divided into a
specified set of strata (a level or class)
such that members within each stratum
have similar attributes but members
between strata have dissimilar attributes
 i.e. Each stratum is homogenous
Example of stratified sampling
 RP: Studying the educational standard of school
in a state.
 Location of school will influence over its
standards of education.
 Location is classified into rural, semi-urban,
urban.
 If same proportion of sampling units are taken
from each stratum, it is known as
“proportional” stratified sampling otherwise
called as known “dis-proportional” sampling
Schema of strata
Stratum 1: Rural
area which has
largest space
Semi Rural
Urban Stratum 2: Semi-
urban area which
has less space when
compared to rural
are, but more space
when compared to
urban area.

Urban
Example of stratified sampling
The objective of stratified sampling is to select a sample of size n from the
population such that the following condition is satisfied.

n = n1 + n2 + n3 + n4 + … +nk

Where ni is the number of samples taken from stratum I = 1,2,3…k,

Proportional Stratified sampling
 Let,
 N = size of the population
 I = size of stratum
 ni = Size of sub sample
 k = Number of strata in the population
 n = size of total population

n1/N1 = n2/N2 = n3/N3 = n/N

N1 + N2 + N3….+Nk = N
 Dis-Proportional Stratified sampling
 Let,
 σi = be the variance of stratum (i varies from 1 to k)
 N = size of the population
 I = size of stratum
 ni = Size of sub sample
 k = Number of strata in the population
 n = size of total population

ni = qi σi n

Σk i- 1 qi σi
Cluster
 A convenient way in which sample can be taken
to divide the area into number of smaller non-
overlapping areas and then to randomly select a
number of these smaller areas are called clusters
 Cluster or group selection.
 Members in each cluster are dissimilar
(heterogeneous) in terms of their attributes, but
different clusters are similar to each other.
Cluster
 E.g. To estimate defective machinery parts
in inventory.
 Assume 20000 machine parts in inventory at
given point of time
 Stored in 400 cases of 50 each.
 Thus 400 cases becomes clusters
 Randomly select ‘n’ cases and examine all the
machine parts.
Multistage
 Further development of cluster sample
 Sampling divided into stages.
 Applied in big inquires extending to large geographical
areas.
 Helps designing a smaller sample frame which makes
study practicable in terms of cost and time.
 Complete information must be available at each stage.
 Adv:
 Large number of units can be sampled for a given cost under.
Non- Probability Sampling
Methods
Convenience Sampling
 This is a sampling technique which selects those
sampling units most conveniently available at a certain
point in, or over a period, of time

 Major advantages of convenience sampling is that is quick,

convenient and economical;
 Major disadvantage is that the sample may not be representative

 Convenience sampling is best used for the purpose of

exploratory research.
 Samplings units are selected from telephone directory,
newspaper subscribers list, departmental stores.
Convenience Sampling
 Done in following situations:
 Sampling unit distributes sparsely
 Respondents refuse / not cooperate to fill
questionnaires.
Quota
 Quota Sampling – This is a sampling technique in which
the researcher ensures that certain characteristics of a
population are represented in the sample to an extent
which is he or she desires
 E..g age of members in population i.e. old, middle and young age
 Let,
 the proportion of the number of persons in the population under
old age be 20%
 Middle and young age be 50% and 30%
 n is the sample size , then proportions of the number of sampling
units to be selected from old , middle ,young age will be 20 ,50,
30 of the sample size(n) ie. 0.2n ,0.5n ,0.3n
Quota Sampling - advantages
and disadvantages
Advantages include the speed of data collection, less cost,
the element of convenience, and representative ness (if
the subgroups in the sample are selected properly)

Disadvantages include the element of subjectivity

(convenience sampling rather than probability-based which
leads to improper selection of sampling units)
ON the spot
 Sample are selected on the spot.
 Skillful task which should take into
account:
 Accurate definition of universe under
investigation.
 A definite sampling unit
 Relevant source list
 Sample size.
Types of sample
 Deliberate sampling:
 also known as purposive / non –probability sampling
 involves deliberate selection of particular units of
universe for constituting a sample.
 Judgment Sampling:
 Researcher's judgment is used for selecting sampling
items.
 Used very frequently in qualitative approach.
Judgment Sampling
 This is a sampling technique in which the business researcher
selects the sample based on judgment about some appropriate
characteristic of the sample members

 Example 1: The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is based on a

judgment sample of market-based items, housing costs, and
other selected goods and services which are representative for
most of the overall population in terms of their consumption

 Example 2: Selection of certain voting districts which serve as

indicators for the national voting trend
Snowball Sampling
 Is a restrictive multistage sampling.
 Initially certain number of sampling units are
selected.
 Later, additional units are selected based on
referral process.
 This is an inexpensive and convenient non-
probability sampling method which suits situation
where development of sampling frame is difficult
and time consuming.