Sampling Methods

UNIT 9 SAMPLING METHODS

Objectives
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
• appreciate why sampling is so common in managerial situations
• identify the potential sampling errors
• list the various sampling methods with their strengths and weaknesses
• distinguish between probability and non-probability sampling
• know when to use the proportional or the disproportional stratified
sampling
• understand the role of multi-stage and multi-phase sampling in large
sampling studies
• appreciate why and how non-probability sampling is used in spite of its
theoretical weaknesses
• recognise the factors which affect the sample size decision.
Structure
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Why Sampling?
9.3 Types of Sampling
9.4 Probability Sampling Methods
9.5 Non-Probability Sampling Methods
9.6 The Sample Size
9.7 Summary
9.8 Self-assessment Exercises
9.9 Further Readings

9.1 INTRODUCTION
Let us take a look at the following five situations to find out the common
features among them, if any:
1) An inspector from the Weights &Measures department of the government
goes to a unit manufacturing vanaspati. He picks up a small number of
packed containers from the day's production, pours out the contents from
each of these selected containers and weighs them individually to
determine if the manufacturing unit is packing enough vanaspati in its
containers to conform to what is claimed as the net weight in the label.
2) The personnel department of a large bank wants to measure the level of
employee motivation and morale so that it can initiate appropriate
measures to help improve the same. It administers a questionnaire to
about 250 employees from different branches and offices all over India
selected from a total of about 30,000 employees and analysis the 149
Sampling and information contained in these 250 filled-in questionnaires to assess the
Sampling
Distributions
morale and motivation levels of all employees.
3) The product development department of a consumer products company
has developed a "new improved" version of its talcum powder. Before
launching the new product, the marketing department gives a container of
the old version first and after a week, a container of the new version to a
group of 400 consumers and gets the feedback of these consumers on
various attributes of the products. These consumer responses will form
the basis for assessing the consumer perception of the new talcum powder
as compared to the old talcum powder.
4) The quality control department of a company manufacturing fluorescent
tubes checks the life of its products by picking up 15 of its tubes at
random and letting them burn till each one of them fuses. The life of all
its products is assessed based on the performance of these 15 tubes.
5) An industrial engineer takes 100 rounds of the shop floor over a period of
six clays and based on these 100 observations, assesses the machine
utilisation on the shop floor.
What is Sampling
On the face of it, there is little that is common among the five situations
described above. Each one refers to a different functional area and the nature
of the problem also is quite different from one situation to another. However,
on closer observation, it appears that in all these situations one is interested in
measuring some attribute of a large or infinite group of elements by studying
only a part of that group. This process of inferring something about a large
group of elements by studying only a part of it, is referred to as sampling.
Most of us use sampling in our daily life, e.g. when we go to buy provisions
from a grocery. We might sample a few grains of rice or wheat to infer the
quality of a whole bag of it. In this unit we shall study why sampling works
and the various methods of sampling available so that we can make the
process of sampling more efficient.
Some Basic Concepts
We shall refer to the collection of all elements about which some inference is
to be made as the population. For example, in situation (ii) above,, the
population is the set of 30,000 employees working in the bank and in
situation (iii), the population comprises of all the consumers of talcum
powder in the country.
We are basically interested in measuring some characteristics of the
population. This could be the average life of a fluorescent tube, the
percentage of consumers of talcum powder who prefer the "new improved"
talcum powder to the old one or the percentage of time a machine is being
used as in situation (v) above. Any characteristic of a population will be
referred to as a parameter of the population.
In sampling, some population parameter is inferred by studying only a part of
the population. We shall refer to the part of the population that has been
150
chosen as a sample. Sampling, therefore, refers to the process of choosing a Sampling Methods

sample from the population so that some inference about the population can
be made by studying the sample. For example, the sample in situation (ii)
consists of the 250 employees from different branches and offices of the
bank.
Any characteristic of a sample is called a statistic. For example, the mean life
of the sample of 15 tubes in situation (iv) above is a sample statistic.
Conventionally, population parameters are denoted by Greek or capital letters
and sample statistics by lower case Roman letters. There can be exceptions to
this form of notation, e.g. population proportions is usually denoted by p and
the sample proportion by p.
Figure I shows the concept of a population and a sample in the form of the
Venn diagram, where the population is shown as the universal set and a
sample is shown as a true subset of the population. The characteristics of a
population and a sample and some symbols for these are presented in Table
1.
Figure I: Population and Sample

Population: set of all items

being considered

Sample: Set of items

chosen for study

Table 1: Symbols for Population and Samples.

POPULATION SAMPLE
Characteristic Parameter Statistic
Symbols Population size = N Sample size = n
Population mean = � Sample mean = �
Population s.d. = � Sample s.d. = s
Population proportion = P Sample proportion = p

Sampling is not the only process available for making inferences about a
population. For small populations, it may be feasible and practical, and
sometimes desirable to examine every member of the population e.g. for
inspection of some aircraft, components. This process is referred to as census
or complete enumeration of the population.

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Sampling and
Sampling
9.2 WHY SAMPLING?
Distributions
In the example situations given in section 9.1 above, the reasons for resorting
to sampling should be very clear. We give below the various reasons which
make sampling a desirable, and in many cases, the only course open for
making an inference about a population.
Time taken for the Study
Inferring from a sample can be much faster than from a complete
enumeration of the population because fewer elements are being studied. In
situation (iii) above in section 9.1, a complete enumeration of all consumers,
even if feasible, would perhaps take so much time that it is unacceptable for
product launch decisions.
Cost involved for the Study
Sampling also helps in substantial cost reductions as compared to censuses
and as we shall see later in this unit, a better sample design could reduce the
cost of the study further. In many cases, like in situation (ii) above in section
9.1, it may be too costly, although feasible, to contact all the employees in the
bank and get information from them.
Physical Impossibility of Complete Enumeration
In many situations the element being studied gets destroyed while being
tested. The fluorescent tubes in situation (iv) of section 9.1, which are chosen
for testing their lives, get destroyed while being tested. In such cases, a
complete enumeration is impossible as there would be no population left after
such an enumeration.
Practical Infeasibility of Complete Enumeration
Quite often it is practically infeasible to do a complete enumeration due to
many practical difficulties. For example, in situation (iii) of section 9.1, it
would be infeasible to collect information from all the consumers of talcum
powder in India. Some consumers would have moved from one place to
another during the period of study, some others would have stopped
consuming talcum powder just before the period of study whereas some
others would have been users of talcum powder during the period of study
but would have stopped using it some time later. In such situations, although
it is theoretically possible to do a complete enumeration, it is practically
infeasible to do so.
Enough Reliability of Inference based on Sampling
In many eases, sampling provides adequate information so that not much
additional reliability can be gained with complete enumeration in spite of
spending large amounts of additional money and time. It is also possible to
quantify the magnitude of possible error on using; some types of sampling as
will be explained later.

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Quality of Data Collected Sampling Methods

For large populations, complete enumeration also suffers from the possibility
of spurious or unreliable data collected by the enumerators. On the other
hand, there is greater confidence on the purity of the data collected in
sampling as there can be better interviewing, better training and supervision
of enumerators, better analysis of missing data and so on.
Activity A
When would you prefer complete enumeration to sampling?
………………………………………………………………………………....
………………………………………………………………………………....
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Activity B
Name two decisions in each of the following functional areas, where
sampling can be of use:
Functional Area Decision
Manufacturing 1) Inspection of components
2)
Personnel 1)
2)
Marketing । 1)
2)
Finance 1)
2)

9.3 TYPES OF SAMPLING

There are two basic types of sampling depending on who or what is allowed
to govern the selection of the sample. We shall call them by the names of
probability sampling and non-probability sampling.
Probability Sampling
In probability sampling the decision whether a particular element is included
in the sample or not, is governed by chance alone. All probability sampling
designs ensure that each element in the population has some nonzero
probability of getting included in the sample. This would mean defining a
procedure for picking up the sample, based on chance, and avoiding changes
in the sample except by way of a pre-defined process again. The picking up
of the sample is therefore totally insulated against the judgment, convenience
or whims of any person involved with the study. That is why probability 153
Sampling and sampling procedures tend to become rigorous and at times quite
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time¬consuming to ensure that each element has a nonzero probability of
getting included in the sample. On-the other hand, when probability sampling
designs are used, it is possible to quantify the magnitude of the likely error in
inference made and this is of great help in many situations in building up
confidence in the inference.
Non-probability Sampling
Any sampling process which does not ensure some nonzero probability for
each element in the population to be included in the sample would belong to
the category of non-probability sampling. In this case, samples may be
picked up based on the judgment or convenience of the enumerator. Usually,
the complete sample is not decided at the beginning of the study but it
evolves as the study progresses.
However, the very same factors which govern the selection of a sample e.g.
judgment or convenience, can also introduce biases in the study. Moreover,
there is no way that the magnitude of errors can be quantified when non-
probability sampling designs are used.
Many times samples are selected by interviewers or enumerators "at random"
meaning that the actual sample selection is left to the discretion of the
enumerators. Such a sampling design would also belong to the non-
probability sampling category and not the category of probability or random
sampling.

9.4 PROBABILITY SAMPLING METHODS

In the category of probability sampling, we shall discuss the following four
designs:
1) Simple Random Sampling
2) Systematic Sampling
3) Stratified Sampling
4) Cluster Sampling
One can also use sampling designs which are combinations of the above
listed ones.
Simple Random Sampling
Conceptually, simple random sampling is one of the simplest sampling
designs and can work well for relatively small populations. However, there
are many practical problems when one tries to use simple random sampling
for large populations.
What is simple random sampling?: Suppose we have a population having
N elements and that we want to pick up a sample of size n (< N). Obviously,
there are many possible samples of size n.

154
Simple random sampling is a process which ensures that each of the samples Sampling Methods

of size n has an equal probability of being picked up as the chosen sample.

As we shall see later in this section this also implies that under simple
random sampling, each element of the population has an equal probability of
getting included in the sample.
All other forms of probability sampling use this basic concept of simple
random sampling but applied to a part of the population at a time and not to
the whole population.
Let us consider a small example to illustrate what simple random sampling is.
Our population is a family of five members, two adults and three children,
viz. A, B, C, D and E respectively. There are 10 different samples possible of
size three as listed in Table 2 below. As we have shown in the same Table, if
each of the 10 samples has an equal probability of 1/10 of being picked up,
this implies that the probability that any particular element, say A or B, is
included in the sample is the same.
N
In general, there are � � different samples of size n that can be picked up
n
from a population of size N. Simple random sampling ensures that any of
�
these samples has the same probability of picked up viz. �
� �
�

Table 2: Simple Random Sampling

Population of size 5: (A, B, C, D and E)
Let P [ABC] be the probability that the sample of size 3 containing elements
A, B and C, is chosen.
Simple Random Sampling ensures that

P[ABC] =1/10 P[ADE] =1/10

P[ABD] =1/10 P[BCD] =1/10
P[ABE] =1/10 P[BCE] =1/10
P[ACD] =1/10 P[BDE] =1/10
P[ACE] =1/10 P[CDE] =1/10
∴ Probability that element A
is in the sample, P(A) = P[ACC] + P[ABD] + P[ABE] + P[ACD] + P[ACE]
+ [ADE] = 6/10
and P(B) = P[ABC] + P[ABD] + P[ABE] + P[BCD] + P[BCE]
+ P[BDE]= 6/10
Similarly P(C) = 6/10
P(D) = 6/10
and P(E) = 6/10
If we want to find the probability that element A (or any other element for
that matter) is included in the sample picked up, we have to find the number
of different samples in which this element A occurs. There are (n -1) 155
Sampling and positions available in the sample (since one is occupied by A) which can be
Sampling
Distributions
picked up from any of the (N-1) elements of the population (since A is not
available to be picked up) and so there are:
N
� � different samples in which element A occurs
n
Therefore, the probability that element A is included in
����� (���)! �!(���)!
���
the sample = = (���)!(���)! ×
��� �!
�
n
=
N
The fact that every element of the population has an equal probability of
getting included in the sample is made use of in actually picking up simple
random samples.
Sampling with and without replacement: We have implicitly assumed
above that we are sampling without replacement, i.e. if an element is picked
up-once, it is not available to be picked up again. This is how most practical
samples are, but as a concept, it is possible to think in terms of sampling with
replacement in which case an element, after being picked up and included in
the sample, is replaced in the population so that it can be picked up again.
What is important for us to note at this stage is that even in the case of simple
random sampling with replacement, each element has an equal probability of
getting included in the sample.
How is simple random sampling done?: It is imperative to have a list of all
the members of the population before a simple random sample can be picked
up. Such an exhaustive list of all population members is called a sampling
frame.
Suppose we write the name of one such member on a chit of paper and thus
have N chits in a bowl, one chit for each member of the population. We can
then mix the chits well and pick up one chit at random to represent one
member of the sample. If we want a sample of size n, we have to repeat this
process n times and we shall have a simple random sample of size n
consisting of the names of members appearing on the chits picked.
It is easy to see that if we replace the chits in the bowl after noting down the
name of the element, we will have a simple random sample with replacement
and one without replacement if we do not.
As the population size increases, it becomes more and more difficult to work
with chits and one can simulate this process on a computer or by using a table
of random numbers. We can associate a serial number with each member of
our population and then instruct a computer to pick up a member from 1
through N using its pseudo¬random number generator. This ensures that
every number from 1 through N has an equal probability of getting picked up
and so the sample selected is a simple random sample.

156
We can also use a table of random numbers to pick up a simple random Sampling Methods

sample. In a table-of random numbers there is an equal probability for any

digit from 0 to 9 to appear in any particular position. In table 3 we have a
page of five digit random numbers containing 100 such numbers. The most
important thing in using a random number table is to specify to the minutest
detail the sequence of steps that has been decided before the table is actually
referred to. We shall demonstrate this with an example.
Suppose we have a population of size 900 with each number being given a
serial number ranging from 000 through 899 and we want to pick up a simple
random sample of size 20. We proceed by defining a procedure.
1) Starting point and direction of movement. We may decide to start with
the top left hand number and consider the first three digits (from left) as
the three-digited random number picked up e.g. the first number would
then be 121. We also specify that we shall move down a column to pick
up further numbers-e.g. the second number would be 073, If there is no
further number down the column, we shall go to the top of the next
column of five-digited numbers and pick up the first three digits (from
left)-e.g. after 851 our next number shall be 651.
2) Checking the number picked up. If the number picked up is in the range
000 to 899, we accept the number but if it is outside this range, we shall
discard it and pick up the next number-e.g. after the third number 703, we
discard 934 and the fourth member of the sample would be 740.
Similarly, if we are doing sampling without replacement and a number is
picked up again, it is discarded and we move to the next three-digited
number.
Using this process, if we want a sample of size 10, our sample would
contain members with the following numbers: 121, 073, 703, 740, 736,
513, 464, 571, 379 and 412.
Simple random sampling in practice: Simple random sampling, as
described here, is not the most efficient sampling design either statistically or
economically in all practical situations. However, it forms the basis for all
other forms of probability sampling which are used on parts of the population
or sub-population and not on the population as a whole.
Table 3: Table of five-digited random numbers

12135 65186 86886 72976 79885

07369 49031 45451 10724 95051
70387 53186 97116 32093 95612
93451 53493 56442 67121 70257
74077 66687 45394 33414 15685
73627 54287 42596 05544 76826
51353 56404 74106 66185 23145
46426 12855 48497 05532 36299
57126 99010 29015 65778 93911 157
Sampling and 37997 89034 79788 94676 32307
Sampling
Distributions 41283 42498 73173 21938 22024
76374 68251 71593 93397 26245
51668 47244 13732 48369 60907
17698 32685 24490 56983 81152
12448 00902 07263 16764 71261
52515 93269 61210 55526 71912
43501 10248 34219 83416 91239
45279 19382 82151 57365 84915
11437 98102 58168 61534 69495
85183 38161 22848 06673 35293

As mentioned earlier, in listing all members of the population viz. a frame is

required before a simple random sample can be chosen. In many situations
the frame is not available nor is it practical to prepare the frame in a time and
cost-effective manner. Obviously, under such conditions simple random
sampling is not a viable sampling design.
Most large populations are not homogeneous and can be broken down into
more homogeneous units. In such conditions one can design sampling
schemes which are statistically more efficient, meaning that they allow the
same precision from smaller sample sizes.
Similarly by picking up members from geographically closer areas the cost
efficiency of the sampling design can be improved. Cluster sampling is based
on this concept.
The process of picking up a simple random sample through using a table of
random numbers or any other such aids as discussed earlier, is rather
cumbersome and not very purposeful to the uninitiated interviewer. Simpler
forms of sampling overcomes this handicap of simple random sampling.
Activity C
There are 20 elements in a population, each identified by a letter of the
English alphabet from A through T. Using the random number table given in.
Table 3, describe how you would pick up a sample of size 5 when sampling
is done without replacement.
…………………………………………………………………………………
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…………………………………………………………………………………
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…………………………………………………………………………………

158 …………………………………………………………………………………
Systematic Sampling Sampling Methods

Systematic sampling proceeds by picking up one element after a fixed

interval depending on the sampling ratio. For example, if we want to have a
sample of size 10 from a population of size 100, our sampling ratio would be
n/N = 10/100 = 1/10. We would, therefore, have to decide where to start from
among the first 10 names in our frame. If this number happens to be 7 for
example, then the sample would contain members having serial numbers
7,17,27,….97 in the frame. It is to be noted that the random process
establishes only the first member of the sample the rest are pre-ordained
automatic because of the known sampling ratio.
Systematic sampling in the previous example would choose one out of ten
possible samples each starting with either number 1, or number 2, or
....number 10. This is usually decided by allowing chance to play its role e.g.
by using a table of random numbers.
Systematic sampling is relatively much easier to implement compared to
simple random sampling. However, there is one possibility that should be
guarded against while using systematic sampling-the possibility of a strong
bias in the results if there is any periodicity in the frame that parallels the
sampling ratio. One can give some ridiculously simple example to highlight
the point. If you were making studies on the demand for various banking
transactions in a bank branch by studying the demand on some days
randomly selected by systematic sampling, be sure that your sampling ratio is
not 1/7 or 1/14 etc. Otherwise you would always be studying the demand on
the same day of the week and your inferences could be biased depending on
whether the day selected is a Monday or a Friday and so on. Similarly, when
the frame contains addresses of flats in buildings all alike and having say 12
flats in one building, systematic sampling with a sampling ratio of 1/6, 1/60
or any other such fraction would bias your sample with flats of only one type
e.g. a ground floor corner flat i.e., all types of flats would not be members of
your sample; and this might lead to biases in the inference made.
If the frame is arranged in an order, ascending or descending, of some
attribute then the location of the first sample element may affect the result of
the study. For example, if our frame contains a list of students arranged in a
descending order of their percentage in the previous examination and we are
picking a systematic sample with a sampling ratio of 1/50. If the first number
picked is 1 or 2, then the sample chosen will be academically much better off
compared to another systematic sample with the first number chosen as 49 or
50. In such situations, one should devise ways of nullifying the effect of bias
due to starting number by insisting on multiple starts after a small cycle or
other such means.
On the other hand, if the frame is so arranged that similar elements are
grouped together, then systematic sampling produces almost a proportional
stratified sample and would be, therefore, more statistically efficient than
simple random sampling.
Systematic sampling is perhaps the most commonly used method among the
probability sampling designs and for many purposes e.g. for estimating the 159
Sampling and precision of the results, systematic samples are treated as simple random
Sampling samples.
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Stratified Sampling
Stratified sampling is more complex than simple random sampling, but where
applied properly, stratification can significantly increase the statistical
efficiency of sampling.
The concept: Suppose we are interested in estimating the demand of non-
aerated beverages in a residential colony. We know that the consumption of
these beverages has some relationship with the family income and that the
families residing in this colony can be classified into three categories-viz.,
high income, middle income and low income families. If we are doing a
sampling study we would like to make sure that our sample does have some
members from each of the three categories-perhaps in the same proportion as
the total number of families belonging to that category-in which case we
would have used proportional stratified sampling. On the other hand, if we
know that the variation in the consumption of these beverages from one
family to another is relatively large for the low income category whereas
there is not much variation in the high income category, we would perhaps
pick up a smaller than proportional sample from the high income category
and a larger than proportional sample from-the low income category. This is
what is done in disproportional stratified sampling.
The basis for using stratified sampling is the existence of strata such that each
stratum is more homogeneous within and markedly different from another
stratum. The higher the homogeneity within each stratum, the higher the gain
in statistical efficiency due to stratification.
What are strata?: The strata are so defined that they constitute a partition of
the population-i.e., they are mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive.
Every element of the population belongs to one stratum and not more than
one stratum, by definition. This is shown in Figure II in the form of a Venn
diagram, where three strata have been shown.
A stratum can therefore he conceived of as a sub-population which is more
homogeneous than the complete population-the members of a stratum, are
similar to each other and are different from the members of another stratum
in the characteristics that we are measuring.
Figure II: A Population with three strata

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Proportional stratified sampling: After defining the strata, a simple random Sampling Methods

sample is picked up from each of the strata. If we want to have a total sample
of size 100, this number is allocated to the different strata-either in proportion
to the size of the stratum in the population or otherwise.
If the different strata have similar variances of the characteristic being
measured, then the statistical efficiency will be the highest if the sample sizes
for different strata are in the same proportion as the size of the respective
stratum in the population. Such a design is called proportional stratified
sampling and is shown in Table 4 below.
If we want to pick up a proportional stratified sample of size n from a
population of size N, which has been stratified to p different strata with sizes
N�, N� , … … … … . N� respectively, then the sample sizes for different strata,
viz n� , n� , … … n� will be given by
�� �� �� �
= =⋯= =
�� �� �� �

Table 4: Proportional Stratified Sampling

Stratum No. No. of Sample size Sampling

(i) Elements in (�� ) Ratio
stratum (�� ) (n� /N� )
1 200 10 1/20
2 300 15 1/20
3 500 25 1/20
Total 1000 50 1/20

The strata and the samples from each stratum are shown in the form of a
Venn diagram in Figure III below, where S�, S2 etc. refer to the stratum
number 1 and stratum number 2 etc. respectively.
Figure III: Stratified Sampling

Disproportional stratified sampling: If the different strata in the population

have unequal variances of the characteristic being measured, then the sample
size allocation decision should consider the variance as well. It would be
logical to have a smaller sample from a stratum where the variance is smaller
than from another stratum where the variance is higher. In fact, if
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Sampling and ��� , ��� , … … , ��� are the variance of the p strata respectively, then the
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statistical efficiency is the highest when
n� n� n�
= =⋯=
N� �� N� �� N� ��

where the other symbols have the same meaning as in the previous example.
Suppose the variances of the characteristic we are measuring were different
for each of the three strata of the earlier example and were actually as shown
in Table 5. If the total sample size was still restricted to 50, the statistically
optimal allocation would be as given in Table 5 and one can compare this
Table with Table 4 above to find that the sampling ratio would fall for
Stratum-3 as the variance is smaller here and would go up for Stratum-2
where the variance is larger.
Table 5: Disproportional Stratified Sampling

Stratum No. of Stratum Stratum Sample Sampling

No.(i) Elements Variance s.d. (�� ) size (�� ) Ratio
in Stratum (��� ) (n� /N� )
(�� )
1 200 2.25 1.5 13 0.065
2 300 4.00 2.0 26 0.087
3 500 0.25 0.5 11 0.022
Total 1000 50

Stratified sampling in practice: Stratification of the population is quite

common in managerial applications because it also allows to draw separate
conclusions for each stratum. For example, if we are estimating the demand
for a non-aerated beverage in a residential colony and have stratified the
population based on the family income, then we would have data pertaining
to each stratum which might be useful in making many marketing decisions.
Stratification requires us to identify the strata such that the intra-stratum
differences are as small as possible and inter-strata differences as large as
possible. However, whether a stratum is homogeneous or not-in the
characteristic that we are measuring e.g. consumption of non-aerated
beverage in the family in the previous example-can be known only at the end
of the study whereas stratification is to be done at the beginning of the study
and that is why some other variable like family income is to be used for
stratification. This is based on the implicit assumption that family income and
consumption of non-aerated beverages are very closely associated with each
other. If this assumption is true, stratification would increase the statistical
efficiency of sampling. In many studies, it is not easy to find such associated
variables which can be used as the basis for stratification and then
stratification may not help in increasing the statistical efficiency, although the
cost of the study goes up due to the additional costs of stratification.
Cluster Sampling
Let us take up the situation where we are interested in estimating the demand
162 for a non-aerated beverage in a residential colony again. The colony is
divided into 11 blocks, called Block A through Block K as shown in Figure Sampling Methods

IV below.
Figure IV: Blocks in a residential colony

We might use cluster sampling in this situation by treating each block as a

cluster. We will then select 2 blocks out of the 11 blocks at random and then
collect information from all families residing in those 2 blocks.
Cluster vs stratum: We can now compare cluster sampling with stratified
sampling. Stratification is done to make the strata homogeneous within and
different from other strata. Clusters, on the other hand, should be
heterogeneous within and the different clusters should be similar to each
other. A clusture, ideally, is a mini-population and has all the features of the
population.
The criterion used for stratification is a variable which is closely associated
with the characteristic we are measuring e.g. income level when we are
measuring the family consumption of non-aerated beverages in the example
quoted earlier. On the other hand, convenience of data collection is usually
the basis for cluster definitions.
Geographic contiguity is quite often used for clusture definitions, like in
Figure IV above and in such cases, cluster sampling is also known as Area
Sampling.
There are very fewer strata and one requires to pick up a random sample from
each of the strata for drawing inferences. In cluster sampling, there are many
clusters out of which only a few are picked up by random sampling and then
the clusters are completely enumerated.
Cluster sampling in practice: Cluster sampling is used primarily because it
allows for great economies in data collection costs since the travel related
costs etc. are smaller. Although it is statistically less efficient than simple
random sampling in most cases, this deficiency may be more than offset by
the high economic efficiency that it offers. For example, to get a certain
precision level one might need a sample size of 100 under simple random
sampling and a sample size of 175 under cluster sampling. However if the
cost of data collection is Rs. 20 under simple random sampling and only Rs.
5 under cluster sampling, it would be cost-effective to use cluster sampling.
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Sampling and Cluster sampling is rarely used in single-stage sampling plans. In a national
Sampling
Distributions
survey, a district might be treated as a cluster and cluster sampling used in
the first stage to pick up 15 districts in the country. Some other form of
probability sampling like stratified sampling cluster sampling etc. is then
used to go to a smaller sampling unit.
If a frame has to be developed, then cluster sampling allows us to save on the
cost of developing a frame because frames need to be developed only for the
selected clusters and not for the whole population.
Multi-stage and Multi-phase Sampling
In most large surveys one uses multi-stage sampling where the sampling unit
is something larger than an individual element of the population in all stages
but the final. For example, in a national survey on the demand of fertilizers
one might use stratified sampling in the first stage with a district as a
sampling unit and the average rainfall in the district as the criterion for
stratification. Having obtained 20 districts from this stage, cluster sampling
may be used in the second stage to pick up 10 villages in each of the selected
districts. Finally, in the third stage, stratified sampling may be used in each
village to pick up frames in each of the strata defined with land holding as the
criterion.
Multi-phase sampling, on the other hand, is designed to make use of the
information collected in one phase to develop a sampling design in a
subsequent phase. A study with two phases is often called double sampling.
The first phase of the study might reveal a relationship between the family
consumption of non-aerated beverages and the family income and this
information would then be used in the second phase to stratify the population
with family income as the criterion.
Activity D
Using a calendar for the current year, identify a systematic sample of size 10
when the sampling ratio is 1/20. (Tomorrow is the first possible member of
the sample.)
………………………………………………………………………………....
………………………………………………………………………………....
………………………………………………………………………………....
………………………………………………………………………………....
Activity E
A lot of debate is going on regarding the grant of statehood to Delhi. If you
plan to do a sample survey of 3000 residents in Delhi on this question, what
kind of sampling design would you use? In Delhi, many colonies are posh
and many others are poor and you believe that the response on statehood is
highly dependent on the income level of the respondent.
…………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………
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………………………………………………………………………………… Sampling Methods

…………………………………………………………………………………

9.5 NON-PROBABILITY SAMPLING METHODS

Probability sampling has some theoretical advantages over non-probability
sampling. The bias introduced due to sampling could be completely
eliminated and it is possible to set a confidence interval for the population
parameter that is being studied. In spite of these advantages of probability
sampling, non-probability sampling is used quite frequently in many
sampling surveys. This is so because all are based on practical
considerations.
Probability sampling requires a list of all the sampling units and this frame is
not available in many situations nor is it practically feasible to develop a
frame of say all the households in a city or zone or ward of a city. Sometimes
the objective of the study may not be to draw a statistical inference about the
population but to get familiar with extreme cases or other such objectives. In
a dealer survey, our objective may be to get familiar with the problems faced
by our dealers so that we can take some corrective actions, wherever
possible. Probability sampling is rigorous and this rigour e.g. in selecting
samples, adds to the cost of the study. And finally, even when we are doing
probability sampling, there are chances of deviations from the laid out
process especially where some samples are selected by the interviewers at
site-say after reaching a village. Also, some of the sample members may not
agree to be interviewed or not available to be interviewed and our sample
may turn out to be a non-probability sample in the strictest sense of the term.
Convenience Sampling
In this type of non-probability sampling, the choice of the sample is left
completely to the convenience of the interviewer. The cost involved in
picking up the sample is minimum and the cost of data collection is also
generally low, e.g. the interviewer can go to some retail shops and interview
some shoppers while studying the demand for non-aerated beverages.
However, such samples can suffer from excessive bias from known or
unknown sources and also there is no way that the possible errors can be
quantified.
Purposive Sampling
Inconvenience sampling, any member of the population can be included in
the sample without any restriction. When some restrictions are put on the
possible inclusion of a member in the sample, the sampling is called
purposive.
Judgment Sampling: In judgment sampling, the judgment or opinion of
some experts forms the basis for sample selection. The experts are persons
who are believed to have information on the population which can help in
giving us better samples. Such sampling is very useful when we want to
study rare events, or when members have extreme positions, or even when 165
Sampling and the objective of the study is to collect a wide cross-section of views from one
Sampling extreme to the other.
Distributions
Quota Sampling: Even when we are using non-probability sampling, we
might want our sample to be representative of the population in some defined
ways. This is sought to be achieved in quota sampling so that the bias
introduced by sampling could be reduced.
If in our population, 20% of the members belong to the high income group,
30% to the middle income group and 50% to the low income group and we
are using quota sampling, we would specify that the sample should also
contain members in the same proportion as in the population e.g. 20% of the
sample members would belong to the high income group and so on.
The criteria used to set quotas could be many. For example, family size could
be another criterion and we can set quotas for families with family size upto
3, between 4 and 5, and above 5. However, if the number of such criteria is
large, it becomes difficult to locate sample members satisfying the
combination of the criteria. In such cases, the overall relative frequency of
each criterion in the sample is matched with the overall relative frequency of
the criterion in the population.

9.6 THE SAMPLE SIZE

How large a sample should be taken in a study? So far in this unit we have
not addressed ourselves to this question. At this stage, we will only mention
some factors affect the sample size decision and in later units some of these
ideas will be gone into in more depth.
One of the most important factors that affect the sample size is the extent of
variability in the population. Taking an extreme case, if there is no
variability, i.e. if all the members of the population are exactly identical, a
sample of size 1 is as good as a sample of 100 or any other number.
Therefore, the larger the variability, the larger is the sample size required.
A second consideration is the confidence in the inference made-the larger the
sample size the higher is the confidence. In many situations, the confidence
level is used as the basis to decide sample size as we shall see in the next
unit.
In many real life situations, the factor of overriding importance is the cost of
the study and the problem then becomes one of designing a sampling scheme
to achieve the highest statistical efficiency subject to the budget for the study.
It is here that cluster sampling and convenience sampling score over other
more statistically efficient methods of sampling, since the unit cost of data
collection is lower.

9.7 SUMMARY
In this unit we have looked at various sampling methods available when one
wants to make some inferences about a population without enumerating it
166 completely. We started by looking at some situations where sampling was
being done and then found that in many situations sampling may be the only Sampling Methods

feasible way of knowing something about the population-either because of

the time or cost involved, or because of the physical impossibility or practical
infeasibility of observing the complete population. Also, sampling can give
us adequate results in many applications and can be preferred over complete
enumeration as it ensures a higher purity of the data collected, especially
when the population is large.
We noted that there are two basic methods of sampling-probability sampling
which ensures that every member of the population has a calculable nonzero
probability getting included in the sample and non-probability sampling
where there is no such assurance. Probability sampling is theoretically
superior to non-probability sampling as it helps us in reducing the bias and
also allows us to quantify the possible error involved, but non-probability
sampling is less rigorous, easy to use, practically feasible and gives adequate
results in some applications.
Among the probability sampling methods, simple random sampling works
the best when the population is homogeneous but may have many practical
limitations when the population is large. Simple random sampling ensures
that each of the possible samples of a particular size has an equal probability
of getting picked up as the sample selected and it also implies that each
element of the population has an equal probability of being included in the
sample. Systematic sampling starts with a random start and picking up
members after a fixed interval down a list of all members called the sampling
frame. If the population can be broken down into smaller, more
homogeneous sub-populations or strata, then stratified sampling should be
used which allows higher economic efficiency as the cost of data collection
per element is reduced if members are physically or otherwise closer to each
other as they are. in a cluster. Most large studies are based on multi-stage
sampling where different sampling methods are used at each stage. In some
studies multi-phase sample is also used, especially where the information
collected in one phase is used in the sampling design of a later phase.
We have also discussed some of the non-probability sampling methods used
in practice. If any member of the population could be included in the sample,
we would get a convenience sample. On the other hand, if the entry is subject
to the judgment of some expert or experts who have a better knowledge of
the population, we would have used judgment sampling and if the sample is
made representative of the population by setting quotas for elements
satisfying different criteria, this is called quota sampling. Purposive sampling
is a genuine name for all non-probability sampling methods where
restrictions are used on entry. We have looked at all of these sampling
methods to gauge their strengths and weaknesses and also to find their
applicability under different conditions.

9.8 SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISES

1) List the various reasons that make sampling so attractive in drawing
conclusions about the population.
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Sampling and 2) What is the major difference between probability and non-probability
Sampling
Distributions
sampling?
3) A study aimes to quantify the organisational climate in any organisation
by administering a questionnaire to a sample of its employees. There are
1000 employees in a company with 100 executives, 200 supervisors and
700 workers. If the employees are stratified based on this classification
and a sample of 100 employees is required, what should the sample size
be from each stratum, if proportional stratified sampling is used?
4) In question 3 above, if it is known that the standard deviation of the
response for Qfexecutives is 1.9, for supervisors is 3.2 and for workers is
2.1, what should the respective sample sizes be?
Please state for each of the following statements, which of the given
response is the most correct:
5) To determine the salary, the sex and the working hours structure in a
large multi¬storeyed office building, a survey was conducted in which all
the employees working on the third, the eighth and the thirteenth floors
were contacted. The sampling scheme used was:
i) simple random sampling
ii) stratified sampling
iii) cluster sampling
iv) convenience sampling
6) We do not use extremely large sample sizes because
i) the unit cost of data collection and data analysis increases as the
sample size increases-e.g. it costs more to collect the thousandth
sample member as compared to the first.
ii) the sample becomes unrepresentative as the sample size is
increased.
iii) it becomes more difficult to store information about large sample
size.
iv) As the sample size increases, the gain in having an additional
sample element falls and so after a point, is less than the cost
involved in having an additional sample element:
7) If it is known that a population has groups which have a wide amount of
variation within them, but only a small variation among the groups
themselves, which of the following sampling schemes would you
consider appropriate:
i) cluster sampling
ii) stratified sampling
iii) simple random sampling
iv) systematic sampling
8) One of the major drawbacks of judgement sampling is that
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 i) the method is cumbersome and difficult to use Sampling Methods

ii) there is no way of quantifying the magnitude of the error involved

iii) it depends on only one individual for sample selection
iv) it gives us small sample sizes

9.9 FURTHER READINGS

Levin, R.I;, Statistics for Management, Prentice Hall of India: New Delhi..
Mason, R.D., Statistical Techniques in Business and Economics, Richard D.
Irwin, Inc: Homewood.
Mendenhall, W.,R.L. Scheaffer and D.D. Wackerly, Mathematical Statistics
with Applications, Danbury Press: Boston.
Plane, D.R. and E.B. Oppermann, Business and Economic Statistics;
Business Publications, Inc: Plano.
Bruce Bowerman. Business statistics for practice, McGraw Hill.

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