Sampling: Some important terms related

to this are:
(i) Population or Universe: It is an
aggregate of all the ‘sampling units’
from which a sample is to be drawn.
(ii) Unit of study: It is the unit about
which information is to be collected.
(iii) Unit of sampling: This is the unit
which takes part in the sampling
procedure. E.g. for baby food, family is
the unit of sampling and child is the unit
of study.
(iv) Sampling frame: It is a complete
list of all the units of sampling in the
population. E.g. telephone directory,
voters’ lists , muster in office. Population
is just the size while sampling frame is
the list.
(v) Sample: One or more sampling units
taken from a population using a
predefined procedure constitute a
sample. The size of the sample should
neither be too big nor too small, but
should be optimum. While deciding the
sample size, the following things should
be considered:
(i) Desired precision and an acceptable
confidence level for the estimate.
(ii) The population variance needs to be
considered as in case of larger variance,
usually a bigger sample is needed.
(iii) Size of the population
(iv) Parameters of interest
(v) Budgetary constraints
Sample designs are basically of 2 types:
(i) non probability sampling and (ii)
probability sampling

Non probability sampling: It is that

sampling procedure which does not
afford any basis for estimating the
probability that each item in the
population has of being included in the
sample. It is also known as deliberate
sampling, purposive sampling or
judgement sampling. In this type of
sampling, items for the sample are
selected deliberately by the researcher,
his/her choice concerning the items
remains supreme. The particular units are
chosen on the basis that the small mass
selected out of a huge one will be typical
or representative of the whole. E.g. if
economic conditions of people in a state
are to be studied, a few towns and
villages may be purposively selected for
intensive study on the principle that they
can be representative of the entire state.
There is always a danger of personal
element and bias entering into this type
of sampling. But if the investigators are
impartial, work without bias and have
the necessary experience to take sound
judgement, the results may be reliable.
However in such a sampling, there is no
assurance that every element has some
specifiable chance of being included.

Quota sampling: This is also an

example of non probability sampling. In
this, the interviewers are simply given
quotas to be filled from the different
strata, with some restrictions on how
they are to be filled. i.e. the actual
selection of items for the sample is left to
the interviewer’s discretion.

Convenience sampling: In this case, the

sample is selected from the population
based on the convenience of the
researcher. E.g. for a study project, if the
students select some companies close to
their place and not a representative
sample of companies from various areas
and industries, then it is a case of
convenience sampling which is a type of
non probability sampling.

(c) Snowball sampling: This type of sampling is

used when the respondents are difficult to find
because of a particular characteristic possessed by
them. Examples of these respondents are people of
high income groups, musicians, drug addicts etc.
Here, we first try to contact a few respondents and
then through their references, we contact a few more
respondents and this process continues till we reach
the desired sample size.
Probability sampling: It is also called
‘random sampling’ or ‘chance sampling’.
In this, every item of the universe has an
equal chance of inclusion in the sample.
It is a lottery method in which individual
units are picked up from the whole group
not deliberately but by some mechanical
process. Random sampling ensures that
if on an average the sample chosen is a
random one, the sample will have the
same composition and characteristics as
the universe.

Systematic sampling: In some

instances, the most practical way of
sampling is to select every ith item on a
list. This is called systematic sampling.
An element of randomness is introduced
into this kind of sampling by picking up
the unit with which to start at random.
E.g. if a 4% sample is desired, the first
item would be selected randomly from
the first 25 and thereafter every 25th item
would automatically be included in the
sample. Thus only the first unit is
selected randomly and the remaining
units of the sample are selected at fixed
intervals. If there is a hidden periodicity
in the population, systematic sampling
will prove inefficient. E.g. every 25th
item produced by a certain production
process is defective. If we select a 4%
sample of the items of this process in a
systematic manner, we would either get
all defective items or all good items in
our sample depending on the random
starting position. The advantage of this
method is that it helps us to get a more
homogeneous and representative sample
from the population.

Stratified sampling: If a population

from which a sample is to be drawn does
not constitute a homogeneous group,
stratified sampling is generally applied.
Here the population is divided into
several sub-populations that are
individually more homogeneous than the
total population( the different sub
populations are called strata) and then we
select items from each stratum to
constitute a sample. The strata are
formed on the basis of common
characteristics of the items to be put in
each stratum. i.e. elements are most
homogeneous within each stratum and
most heterogeneous between the
different strata. The usual method for
selection of items for the sample from
each stratum is simple random sampling.
The sizes of the samples from different
strata are kept proportional to the sizes of
the strata.

Cluster sampling: If the total area of

interest happens to be a big one, a
convenient way to take a sample is to
divide the area into a number of smaller
non overlapping areas and then to
randomly select a number of these
smaller areas(usually called clusters)
with the ultimate sample consisting of
all(or samples of) units in these small
areas or clusters. Suppose we want to
estimate the proportion of machine parts
in an inventory which are defective.
Assume that there are 20000 machine
parts stored in 400 cases of 50 each.
Now using cluster sampling we would
consider the 400 cases as clusters and
randomly select ‘n’ cases and examine
all the machine parts in each randomly
selected case.
Area sampling: If clusters happen to be
some geographic subdivisions, in that
case cluster sampling is better known as
area sampling.
Multi-stage sampling: This is a further
development of the principle of cluster
sampling. Suppose we want to
investigate the working efficiency of
nationalized banks in India and we want
to take a sample of few banks for this
purpose. The first stage is to select large
primary sampling unit such as states in a
country. Then we may select certain
districts and interview all banks in the
chosen districts. This would represent a
2-stage sampling design. If instead of
taking a census of all banks within the
selected districts, we select certain towns
and interview all banks in the chosen
towns then this will represent a 3-stage
sampling design. If we select randomly
at all stages, we will have what is known
as ‘multi-stage random sampling design’.