Sampling and Sample size

Wondwosen Teshager(MPH)
Learning objectives

After completing this chapter, the student should be able to:

• Identify probability and non probability sampling techniques

• Be able to choose appropriate sampling technique

• Identify the advantages and limitations of each sampling techniques

• Calculate sample size for your research proposal

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Sampling
• Some studies involve only small numbers of people and thus all of
them can be included.

• however, research focuses on a large population is only possible

to include some of its members in the investigation due to practical
reasons, time, cost factor and other constraints.

• Thus we need sample.

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Sampling
q Sampling is the process of selecting a number of study units from a
defined study population.

q Sample is a finite subset of statistical individuals in a population and

the number of individuals in a sample is called the sample size.

q To draw conclusions which are valid for the whole study population,
the investigator should take care to draw a sample in such a way that
it is representative of that population.
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 Sample Information

Population

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 Common terms used in sampling
• Population: it is the collection of all items of interest.
• Sampling: It is the method by which we select a sample from the
population
• Reference population (or target population): the population of
interest to whom the researchers would like to make
generalizations.
• Sample population: the actual group in which the study is
conducted = Sample
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 Common terms ----
• Study population: the subset of the target population from which a
sample will be drawn.

• Study unit: the population on which information will be collected

(measurement is done).

• Sampling unit - the unit of selection in the sampling process

• Sampling frame: It is the list of all the sampling units in the source
population and from which a random sample is to be drawn.

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Researchers are interested to identify factors associated with ART use
among HIV/AIDS patients attending certain hospitals in a given Region

Target population = All ART

patients in the Region

Study population = All

ART patients in, e.g. 3,
hospitals in the Region

Sample

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 Advantages of sampling:
• Feasibility: Sampling may be the only feasible method of collecting
information.

• Reduced cost: Sampling reduces demands on resource such as finance,

personnel, and material.

• Greater accuracy: Sampling may lead to better accuracy of collecting

data

• Sampling error: Precise allowance can be made for sampling error

• Greater speed: Data can be collected and summarized more quickly.

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Disadvantage

Disadvantage

• There is always a sampling error

• Sampling may create a feeling of discrimination within the population

• Sampling may be inadvisable where every unit in the population

is legally required to have a record.

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 Errors in sampling

1. Sampling error/ Random error

• A sample is expected to mirror the population from which it

comes, however, there is no guarantee that any sample will be
precisely representative of the population.

• The uncertainty associated with an estimate that is based on data

gathered from a sample of the population rather than the full
population is known as sampling error.
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1. Sampling error/ Random error

• It is the random variations in the sample estimates around the true

population parameters

• No sample is the exact mirror image of the population

ØSampling error (chance )
üCan not be avoided or totally eliminated

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 Error sampling cont…

• Sampling error decreases with the increase in the size of the

sample, and it happens to be of a smaller magnitude in case of
homogeneous population.

• When n = N ⇒ sampling error = 0

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 Error in Sampling cont---
2. Non Sampling Error (Measurement Error)

• It is a type of systematic error in the design or conduct of a

sampling procedure which results in distortion of the sample, so that
it is no longer representative of the reference population.

• We can eliminate or reduce the non-sampling error (bias) by

careful design of the sampling procedure and not by increasing the
sample size.

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Error in Sampling cont-
• It can occur whether the total study population or a sample is
being used.

• It may either be produced by participants in the study or be an

innocent by product of the sampling plans and procedures

• These biased observations can be innocent but very devastating

to the findings of the study

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 Error in sampling cont’d…

• Example: If you take male students only from a student

dormitory in Ethiopia in order to determine the proportion of
smokers, you would result in an overestimate, since females are
less likely to smoke.
• Increasing the number of male students would not remove
the bias.

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 sampling
• While selecting a SAMPLE, there are basic questions:
• What is the group of people (STUDY POPULATION)
from which we want to draw a sample?
• How many people do we need in our sample?
• How will these people be selected?

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 Sampling Methods

Two broad divisions:

A. Probability sampling methods

B. Non-probability sampling methods

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 Types of Sampling Methods

Samples
Method

Probability Samples
Non-Probability
Samples

Snowball Simple Stratified

Random
Purposive Judgmental
Systematic Cluster

Convenience
Multistage Random
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A. Probability sampling methods

• Involves random selection of a sample

• Every sampling unit should has a known and non-zero probability of

selection into the sample.

• Involves the selection of a sample from a population, based on chance.

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 1. Simple random sampling
• The required number of individuals are selected at random from the
sampling frame, a list or a database of all individuals in the population.
• Each member of a population has an equal chance of being included in
the sample.
• To use a SRS method:
• Make a numbered list of all the units in the population i.e. Sampling
frame
• Each unit should be numbered from 1 to N (where N is the size of the
population)
• Select the required number. Sampling and Sample size
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 1. Simple random sampling
• The randomness of the sample is ensured by:
• Use of “lottery’ methods
• Table of random numbers
• Computer programs

SRS has certain limitations:

• Difficult if the reference population is dispersed.
• Minority subgroups of interest may not be selected.

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 2. Systematic random sampling
• Sometimes called interval sampling

• Selection of individuals from the sampling frame systematically

rather than randomly

• Individuals are taken at regular intervals down the list and The
starting point is chosen at random

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2. Systematic random sampling

• Important if the reference population is arranged in some order:

• Order of registration of patients
• Numerical number of house numbers
• Student’s registration books

• Taking individuals at fixed intervals (every kth) based on the sampling

fraction.

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 Steps in systematic random sampling
1. Number the units on your frame from 1 to N (where N is the total
population size).
2. Determine the sampling interval (K) by dividing the number of units in
the population by the desired sample size.
3. Select a number between one and K at random. This number is called
the random start and would be the first number included in your sample.
4. Select every Kth unit after that first number
Note: Systematic sampling should not be used when a cyclic repetition is
inherent in the sampling frame.
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systematic random sampling
 3. Stratified random sampling
• It is done when the population is known to be have heterogeneity with
regard to some factors and those factors are used for stratification.

• Using stratified sampling, the population is divided into homogeneous,

mutually exclusive groups called strata, and

• A population can be stratified by any variable that is available for

all units prior to sampling (e.g., age, sex, province of residence,
income, etc.).
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3. Stratified random sampling
• A separate sample is taken independently from each stratum.

• Any of the sampling methods mentioned in this section (and others

that exist) can be used to sample within each stratum.

• Equal allocation:
• Allocate equal sample size to each stratum

• Proportionate allocation:

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 Why do we need to create strata?
• It can make the sampling strategy more efficient.

• A larger sample is required to get a more accurate estimation if a

characteristic varies greatly from one unit to the other.

• For example, if every person in a population had the same salary,

then a sample of one individual would be enough to get a precise
estimate of the average salary.

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 All students in University of
Gondar

All Students in
each batch

1st year 2nd year 3rd year 4th year 5th year
sample sample sample sample sample
students students students students students
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4. Cluster sampling

• Sometimes it is too expensive to carry out SRS

• Population may be large and scattered.
• Complete list of the study population unavailable
• Travel costs can become expensive if interviewers have to
survey people from one end of the country to the other.

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 4. Cluster sampling
• Cluster sampling is the most widely used to reduce the cost

• The clusters should be homogeneous, unlike stratified

sampling where the strata are heterogeneous

• It is the selection of groups of study units (clusters) instead of

the selection of study units individually.

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 Steps in cluster sampling
• Cluster sampling divides the population into groups or clusters.

• A number of clusters are selected randomly to represent the total

population, and then all units within selected clusters are included in the
sample.

• No units from non-selected clusters are included in the sample — they

are represented by those from selected clusters.

• This differs from stratified sampling, where some units are selected
from each group.
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Example
• In a school based study, we assume students of the same
school are homogeneous.

• We can select randomly sections and include all students of

the selected sections only

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 cluster sampling
Advantage
• Cost reduction
• It creates 'pockets' of sampled units instead of spreading the
sample over the whole territory.
• Sometimes a list of all units in the population is not available,
while a list of all clusters is either available or easy to create.
Disadvantage
• Creates a loss of efficiency when compared with SRS.
• Another drawback to cluster sampling is that you do not have
total control over the final sample size.
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 5. Multi-stage sampling

• Similar to the cluster sampling, except that it involves picking a

sample from within each chosen cluster, rather than including all

units in the cluster.

• This type of sampling requires at least two stages.

• The procedure is carried out in phases and it usually involves

more than one sampling method.

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 5. Multi-stage sampling
• The primary sampling unit (PSU) is the sampling unit in the first sampling
stage.

• The secondar]y sampling unit (SSU) is the sampling unit in the second
sampling stage, etc.

• In the first stage, large groups or clusters are identified and selected. These
clusters contain more population units than are needed for the final sample.

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 Sampling
Woreda PSU

Kebele SSU

Sub-Kebele TSU

HH
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 5. Multi-stage sampling
• In the second stage, population units are picked from within the
selected clusters (using any of the possible probability sampling
methods) for a final sample.

• If more than two stages are used, the process of choosing

population units within clusters continues until there is a final
sample.

• With multi-stage sampling, you still have the benefit of a more

concentrated sample for cost reduction.
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 B. Non-probability sampling
• In non-probability sampling, every item has an unknown chance of
being selected.

• There is an assumption that there is an even distribution of a

characteristic of interest within the population.

• But in probability sampling, random is a feature of the selection

process.

• This is what makes the researcher believe that any sample would be
representative and because of that, results will be accurate.
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 The most common types of non-probability sampling

1. Convenience or haphazard sampling

2. Volunteer sampling

3. Judgment sampling

4. Quota sampling

5. Snowball sampling technique

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 1. Convenience or haphazard sampling
• is sometimes referred to as haphazard or accidental sampling.

• It is a method in which for convenience sake the study units that

happen to be available at the time of data collection are selected
in the sample

• It is not normally representative of the target population because

sample units are only selected if they can be accessed easily and
conveniently.
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1. Convenience or haphazard sampling

• The obvious advantage is that the method is easy to use, but

that advantage is greatly offset by the presence of bias.

• Although useful applications of the technique are limited, it can

deliver accurate results when the population is homogeneous.

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 2. Volunteer sampling
• As the term implies, this type of sampling occurs when people
volunteer to be involved in the study.

• In psychological experiments or pharmaceutical trials (drug testing),

for example, it would be difficult and unethical to enlist random
participants from the general public.

• In these instances, the sample is taken from a group of volunteers.

• Sometimes, the researcher offers payment to attract respondents.

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 Volunteer sampling
• In exchange, the volunteers accept the possibility of a lengthy,
demanding or sometimes unpleasant process.

• Sampling voluntary participants as opposed to the general population may

introduce strong biases.

• Often in opinion polling, only the people who care strongly enough about
the subject tend to respond.

• The silent majority does not typically respond, resulting in large

selection bias.
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 3. Judgment sampling
• This approach is used when a sample is taken based on certain judgments about
the overall population.

• The underlying assumption is that the investigator will select units that are
characteristic of the population.

• The critical issue here is objectivity: how much can judgment be relied upon to
arrive at a typical sample?

• Judgment sampling is subject to the researcher's biases.

• One advantage of judgment sampling is the reduced cost and time involved
in acquiring the sample.
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 4. Quota sampling
• It is the non probability equivalent of stratified sampling.

• Like stratified sampling, the researcher first identifies the stratums and
their proportions as they are represented in the population.

• Then convenience or judgment sampling is used to select the required

number of subjects from each stratum.

• This differs from stratified sampling, where the strata are filled by
random sampling.

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 Quota sampling…
• This is one of the most common forms of non-probability sampling.

• Sampling is done until a specific/fixed number of units (quotas) for

various sub-populations have been selected.

• The main argument against quota sampling is that it does not meet
the basic requirement of randomness.

• Some units may have no chance of selection or the chance of selection

may be unknown.

• Therefore, the sample may be biased.

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 Quota sampling…
• Quota sampling is generally less expensive than random sampling.

• It is also easy to administer, especially considering the tasks of listing the

whole population, randomly selecting the sample and following-up on
non-respondents can be omitted from the procedure.

• Quota sampling is an effective sampling method when information is

urgently required and can be conducted without sampling frames.

• In many cases where the population has no suitable frame, quota

sampling may be the only appropriate sampling method.
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 5. Snowball sampling
• A technique for selecting a research sample where existing study
subjects recruit future subjects from among their friends.

• Thus the sample group appears to grow like a rolling snowball.

• This sampling technique is often used in hidden populations which are

difficult for researchers to access; example populations would be drug
users or commercial sex workers.

• Because sample members are not selected from a sampling frame,

snowball samples are subject to numerous biases. For example, people
who have many friends are more likely to be recruited into the sample.
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Sample size Determination
• In planning any investigation we must decide how many people need to
be studied in order to answer the study objectives.

• The eventual sample size is usually a compromise between what is

desirable and what is feasible

• The feasible sample size is determined by the availability of resources.

• It is also important to remember that resources are not only needed to

collect the information, but also to analyze it.
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Sample size Determination
• It is a widespread belief among researchers that the bigger the sample,
the better the study becomes. This is not necessarily true.

• In general it is much better to increase the accuracy of data collection

(improving by training of data collectors and pre testing data collection
tools) than to increase sample size after a certain point.

• It is better to make extra efforts to get a representative sample rather

than to get a very large sample.
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 How many people to study?

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If too many….
• Waste of resources!

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If too few….

• May fail to detect an important effect

• Estimates of effect may be too imprecise (wide CI’s)

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 Sample size …
• Which variables should be included in sample size calculation?
• It should relate to the study’s primary outcome variable
• If the study have secondary outcome variables which are
considered important, the sample size should also be sufficient for
the analysis of these variables.

• Answer depends on:

• How different or dispersed the population is.
• Desired level of confidence.
• Desired degree of accuracy.
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 How to do we calculate a sample size

Formulae and software commands in notes

or

ask statistician
• Rules of thumb approach
• Confidence interval approach
• Hypothesis testing approach

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In order to calculate the required sample size, you need to know the
following facts:

a) The reasonable estimate of the key proportion to be studied.

• If you cannot guess the proportion, take it as 50%.

b) The degree of accuracy required.

• the allowed deviation from the true proportion in the population as
a whole.
• It can be within 1% or 5%, etc.

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Cont…
c) The confidence level required, usually specified as 95%.

d) The size of the population that the sample is to represent.

• If it is more than 10,000 the precise magnitude is not likely to be
very important;
• but if the population is less than 10,000 then a smaller sample size
may be required

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Estimating a proportion
• To construct a confidence interval about a proportion, you must use the
maximum error of the estimate, which is

• Confidence intervals about proportions must meet the criteria that npˆ
≥ 5 and nqˆ ≥ 5.

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Estimating a proportion
• Estimate how big the proportion might be (P)

• Choose the margin of error you will allow in the estimate of the proportion
(say ± w).

• Choose the level of confidence that the proportion in the whole population is
indeed between (p-w) and (p+w). We can never be 100% sure

• The minimum sample size required, for a very large population (N>10,000)

is: n= ⁄ p(1-p) / w2
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 Some Considerations

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Example:
1. A hospital administrator wishes to know what proportion of
discharged patients are unhappy with the care received during
hospitalization. If 95% Confidence interval is desired to estimate the
proportion within 5%, how large a sample should be drawn?
• n = Z2 p(1-p)/w2 =(1.96)2(.5×.5)/(.05)2 =384.2 ≈ 385 patients

N.B. If you don’t have any information about P, take it as 50% and get
the maximum value of PQ which is 1/4 (i.e., 25%).
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 2. Suppose that you are interested to know the proportion of
infants who breastfed >18 months of age in a rural area.
Suppose that in a similar area, the proportion (p) of breastfed
infants was found to be 0.20. What sample size is required to
estimate the true proportion within ±3% points with 95%
confidence. Let p=0.20, d=0.03, α =5%

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Estimating a mean
q the formula for determining a confidence interval for a mean will be

E = maximum error of the estimate (also called the margin of error), =

standard errors of the population
q The required (minimum) sample size for a very large population is given
by :
⋅
=
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Examples
1: A health official wishes to estimate the mean serum cholesterol in a
population of men. From previous similar studies a standard deviation of
40 mg/100ml was reported. If he is willing to tolerate a marginal error
of up to 5 mg/100ml in his estimate, how many subjects should be
included in his study? (α =5%, two sided)

• a) If the population size is assumed to be very large, the required

sample size would be:
n = (1.96)2 (40)2 / (5)2 = 245.86 ≈ 246 persons
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 2. Find the minimum sample size needed to estimate the drop in
heart rate (µ) for a new study using a higher dose of
propranolol than the standard one. We require that the two-
sided 95% CI for µ be no wider than 5 beats per minute and
the sample sd for change in heart rate equals 10 beats per
minute.
2 2 2
n = (1.96) 10 /(2.5) = 62 patients

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3. Suppose that for a certain group of cancer patients, we are
interested in estimating the mean age at diagnosis. We would like
a 95% CI of 5 years wide. If the population SD is 12 years, how
large should our sample be?

Suppose d=1 Then the sample size increases

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