Chapter Eleven

Sampling:
Design and Procedures
 Sample vs. Census

Conditions Favoring the Use of

Type of Study Sample Census

1. Budget Small Large

2. Time available Short Long

3. Population size Large Small

4. Variance in the characteristic Small Large

5. Cost of sampling errors Low High

6. Cost of nonsampling errors High Low

7. Nature of measurement Destructive Nondestructive

8. Attention to individual cases Yes No

The Sampling Design Process

Define the Population

Determine the Sampling Frame

Select Sampling Technique(s)

Determine the Sample Size

Execute the Sampling Process

Define the Target Population
The target population is the collection of elements or
objects that possess the information sought by the
researcher and about which inferences are to be
made. The target population should be defined in
terms of elements, sampling units, extent, and time.

◼ An element is the object about which or from

which the information is desired, e.g., the
respondent.
◼ A sampling unit is an element, or a unit
containing the element, that is available for
selection at some stage of the sampling process.
◼ Extent refers to the geographical boundaries.
◼ Time is the time period under consideration.
Define the Target Population
Important qualitative factors in determining the
sample size

◼ the importance of the decision

◼ the nature of the research
◼ the number of variables
◼ the nature of the analysis
◼ sample sizes used in similar studies
◼ incidence rates
◼ completion rates
◼ resource constraints
 Sample Sizes Used in Marketing
Research Studies

Type of Study Minimum Size Typical Range

Problem identification research 500 1,000-2,500

(e.g. market potential)
Problem-solving research (e.g. 200 300-500
pricing)

Product tests 200 300-500

Test marketing studies 200 300-500

TV, radio, or print advertising (per 150 200-300

commercial or ad tested)
Test-market audits 10 stores 10-20 stores

Focus groups 2 groups 4-12 groups

 Classification of Sampling Techniques

Sampling Techniques

Nonprobability Probability
Sampling Techniques Sampling Techniques

Convenience Judgmental Quota Snowball

Sampling Sampling Sampling Sampling

Simple Random Systematic Stratified Cluster Other Sampling

Sampling Sampling Sampling Sampling Techniques
Convenience Sampling
Convenience sampling attempts to obtain a
sample of convenient elements. Often, respondents
are selected because they happen to be in the right
place at the right time.

◼ use of students, and members of social

organizations
◼ mall intercept interviews without qualifying the
respondents
◼ department stores using charge account lists
◼ “people on the street” interviews
Judgmental Sampling
Judgmental sampling is a form of convenience
sampling in which the population elements are
selected based on the judgment of the researcher.

◼ test markets
◼ purchase engineers selected in industrial
marketing research
◼ bellwether precincts selected in voting behavior
research
◼ expert witnesses used in court
 Quota Sampling
Quota sampling may be viewed as two-stage restricted judgmental
sampling.
◼ The first stage consists of developing control categories, or quotas,
of population elements.
◼ In the second stage, sample elements are selected based on
convenience or judgment.

Population Sample
composition composition
Control
Characteristic Percentage Percentage Number
Sex
Male 48 48 480
Female 52 52 520
____ ____ ____
100 100 1000
Snowball Sampling
In snowball sampling, an initial group of
respondents is selected, usually at random.

◼ After being interviewed, these respondents are

asked to identify others who belong to the target
population of interest.
◼ Subsequent respondents are selected based on
the referrals.
Simple Random Sampling
◼ Each element in the population has a known and
equal probability of selection.
◼ Each possible sample of a given size (n) has a known
and equal probability of being the sample actually
selected.
◼ This implies that every element is selected
independently of every other element.
Systematic Sampling
◼ The sample is chosen by selecting a random starting point and
then picking every ith element in succession from the sampling
frame.
◼ The sampling interval, i, is determined by dividing the
population size N by the sample size n and rounding to the
nearest integer.
◼ When the ordering of the elements is related to the
characteristic of interest, systematic sampling increases the
representativeness of the sample.
◼ If the ordering of the elements produces a cyclical pattern,
systematic sampling may decrease the representativeness of the
sample.
For example, there are 100,000 elements in the population and
a sample of 1,000 is desired. In this case the sampling interval,
i, is 100. A random number between 1 and 100 is selected. If,
for example, this number is 23, the sample consists of elements
23, 123, 223, 323, 423, 523, and so on.
Stratified Sampling
◼ A two-step process in which the population is
partitioned into subpopulations, or strata.
◼ The strata should be mutually exclusive and
collectively exhaustive in that every population
element should be assigned to one and only one
stratum and no population elements should be
omitted.
◼ Next, elements are selected from each stratum by a
random procedure, usually SRS.
◼ A major objective of stratified sampling is to increase
precision without increasing cost.
Stratified Sampling
◼ The elements within a stratum should be as homogeneous as
possible, but the elements in different strata should be as
heterogeneous as possible.
◼ The stratification variables should also be closely related to the
characteristic of interest.
◼ Finally, the variables should decrease the cost of the
stratification process by being easy to measure and apply.
◼ In proportionate stratified sampling, the size of the sample
drawn from each stratum is proportionate to the relative size of
that stratum in the total population.
◼ In disproportionate stratified sampling, the size of the sample
from each stratum is proportionate to the relative size of that
stratum and to the standard deviation of the distribution of the
characteristic of interest among all the elements in that stratum.
Cluster Sampling
◼ The target population is first divided into mutually exclusive and
collectively exhaustive subpopulations, or clusters.
◼ Then a random sample of clusters is selected, based on a
probability sampling technique such as SRS.
◼ For each selected cluster, either all the elements are included in
the sample (one-stage) or a sample of elements is drawn
probabilistically (two-stage).
◼ Elements within a cluster should be as heterogeneous as
possible, but clusters themselves should be as homogeneous as
possible. Ideally, each cluster should be a small-scale
representation of the population.
◼ In probability proportionate to size sampling, the clusters
are sampled with probability proportional to size. In the second
stage, the probability of selecting a sampling unit in a selected
cluster varies inversely with the size of the cluster.
 Types of Cluster Sampling
Cluster Sampling

One-Stage Two-Stage Multistage

Sampling Sampling Sampling

Simple Cluster Probability

Sampling Proportionate
to Size Sampling
Strengths and Weaknesses of
Basic Sampling Techniques
Technique Strengths Weaknesses
Nonprobability Sampling Least expensive, least Selection bias, sample not
Convenience sampling time-consuming, most representative, not recommended for
convenient descriptive or causal research
Judgmental sampling Low cost, convenient, Does not allow generalization,
not time-consuming subjective
Quota sampling Sample can be controlled Selection bias, no assurance of
for certain characteristics representativeness
Snowball sampling Can estimate rare Time-consuming
characteristics

Probability sampling Easily understood, Difficult to construct sampling

Simple random sampling results projectable frame, expensive, lower precision,
(SRS) no assurance of representativeness.
Systematic sampling Can increase Can decrease representativeness
representativeness,
easier to implement than
SRS, sampling frame not
necessary
Stratified sampling Include all important Difficult to select relevant
subpopulations, stratification variables, not feasible to
precision stratify on many variables, expensive
Cluster sampling Easy to implement, cost Imprecise, difficult to compute and
effective interpret results
 Procedures for Drawing Probability Samples

Simple Random
Sampling

1. Select a suitable sampling frame

2. Each element is assigned a number from 1 to N
(pop. size)
3. Generate n (sample size) different random numbers
between 1 and N
4. The numbers generated denote the elements that
should be included in the sample
 Choosing Nonprobability vs.
Probability Sampling

Conditions Favoring the Use of

Factors Nonprobability Probability
sampling sampling

Nature of research Exploratory Conclusive

Relative magnitude of sampling Nonsampling Sampling

and nonsampling errors errors are errors are
larger larger

Variability in the population Homogeneous Heterogeneous

(low) (high)

Statistical considerations Unfavorable Favorable

Operational considerations Favorable Unfavorable

Tennis' Systematic Sampling Returns a Smash

Tennis magazine conducted a mail survey of its subscribers

to gain a better understanding of its market. Systematic
sampling was employed to select a sample of 1,472
subscribers from the publication's domestic circulation list. If
we assume that the subscriber list had 1,472,000 names, the
sampling interval would be 1,000 (1,472,000/1,472). A
number from 1 to 1,000 was drawn at random. Beginning
with that number, every 1,000th subscriber was selected.

A brand-new dollar bill was included with the questionnaire

as an incentive to respondents. An alert postcard was
mailed one week before the survey. A second, follow-up,
questionnaire was sent to the whole sample ten days after
the initial questionnaire. There were 76 post office returns,
so the net effective mailing was 1,396. Six weeks after the
first mailing, 778 completed questionnaires were returned,
yielding a response rate of 56%.