Sampling

Aurang Zeb
Mbioethics, MSN

11/11/2019
 Objectives of Presentation

By the end of this session, the learners will be able to:

 Define the term “population” & “Sampling”

 Recognize the use of sampling in research studies
 Identify the different types of sampling

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Important statistical terms
Population:
a set which includes all
measurements of interest
to the researcher
(The collection of all responses, measurements, or
counts that are of interest)

Sample:
A subset of the population
 Population

 Target Population
 The group from which the study population is selected

 Study Population
 The group selected for investigation

 Elements of a population
 The subject on which the measurement is collected

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 Population

 All the inhabitants of a given country or area considered

together; the number of inhabitants of a given country or
area

 The population is all elements (individuals, objects, or

substance) that meet certain criteria for inclusions in a study
(Kerlinger, 1986).

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Sample
 A sample is “a smaller (but hopefully representative)
collection of units from a population used to determine
truths about that population” (Field, 2005)

 The sampling frame is the list from which the potential

respondents are drawn
 Registrar’s office
 Class rosters
 Must assess sampling frame errors

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Sampling
 Sample
 A sample is a subset of the population that is selected for a
particular study, and the members of a sample are the
subjects or study participants.

 Randomization
 When study subjects are randomly allocated in study
groups from population
 Each person is getting equal chance to be selected in
either group
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 Process
The sampling process comprises several stages:
 Defining the population of concern
 Specifying a sampling frame
 Specifying a sampling method
 Determining the sample size
 Implementing the sampling plan
 Data collection
 Reviewing the sampling process

8
 3 factors that influence sample representative-ness
 Sampling procedure
 Sample size
 Participation (response)

 When might you sample the entire population?

 When your population is very small
 When you have extensive resources
 When you don’t expect a very high response

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 Sampling
 Sampling Error
The fluctuation of the value of statistic from one sample to
another drawn from the same population
OR
The part of the total estimation error of a parameter caused by
the random nature of the sample
 Sampling Bias
Distortion that arise when a sample is not representative of the
population from which it was drawn

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Sampling & Representativeness

Sampling
Population
Sample

Target Population

Target Population  Sampling Population  Sample

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 Why do we use samples ?

Get information from large populations

 At minimal cost

 At maximum speed

 At increased accuracy

 Using enhanced tools

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 Non-Probability Probability
Samples (Random) Samples

• Simple random
sample
• Convenience • Systematic random
sample sample
• Purposive sample • Stratified random
• Quota sample
• Multistage sample
• Multiphase sample
• Cluster sample

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Probability Sampling
 It is a method of sampling that utilizes some form of
random selection.
 In order to have a random selection method, you must
set up some process or procedure that assures that the
different units in your population have equal
probabilities of being chosen

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Some Definitions
 N = the number of cases in the sampling frame

 n = the number of cases in the sample

 f = n/N = the sampling fraction

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 Sampling Fraction

 If the size of the population is N and the size of the sample

is n, the ratio is n/N called the sampling fraction. If
N=100 , n=10 then n/N 10/100 =1/10 the ratio.
(10/100X100=10%,)
 It means 10% of the population is included in the
sample.

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1. Simple Random Sampling
• All subsets of the frame are given an equal probability.
Each element of the frame thus has an equal probability of
selection.
• Applicable when population is small, homogeneous &
readily available
 Procedure
 Use a table of random numbers, a computer random
number generator, or a mechanical device to select the
sample.

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 Simple Random sampling

 Advantages
– Simple
– Sampling error easily measured

 Disadvantages
– Need complete list of units
– Does not always achieve best Representativeness

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 Simple Random Sampling

Example: Estimate the prevalence of tooth decay among the

1200 children attending a school

 List of children attending the school

 Children numerated from 1 to 1200
 Sample size = 100 children
 Random sampling of 100 numbers between 1 and 1200

How to randomly select?

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Simple Random Sampling

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Stratified Random Sample

- A stratified random sample is one obtained by separating the

population elements into non-overlapping groups, called
strata, and then selecting a simple random sample from
each stratum.

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Stratified sampling

 Advantages
 More precise if variable associated with strata
 All subgroups represented, allowing separate
conclusions about each of them
 Disadvantages
 Sampling error difficult to measure

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Systematic Random Sampling

- All of this will be much clearer with an example. Let's

assume that we have a population that only has N=100
people in it and that you want to take a sample of n=20.
To use systematic sampling, the population must be listed
in a random order. The sampling fraction would be f =
20/100 = 20%. in this case, the interval size, k, is equal to
N/n = 100/20 = 5.

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Systematic Random Sampling

- Now, select a random integer from 1 to 5. In our

example, imagine that you chose 4. Now, to select the
sample, start with the 4th unit in the list and take every
k-th unit (every 5th, because k=5).You would be
sampling units 4, 9, 14, 19, and so on to 100 and you
would wind up with 20 units in your sample.

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Systematic sampling

 N = 1200, and n = 60
 sampling fraction = 1200/60 = 20
 List persons from 1 to 1200
 Randomly select a number between 1 and 20 (ex : 8)
 1st person selected = the 8th on the list
 2nd person = 8 + 20 = the 28th
etc .....

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Systematic sampling

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45

46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 ……..

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Cluster Sampling
 In, we follow these steps:
 Divide population into clusters (usually along
geographic boundaries)
 Randomly sample clusters
 Measure all units within sampled clusters

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Cluster Sampling
 It is a probability sample in which each sample unit is a
collection, or cluster, of elements

 The first task in cluster sampling is to specify appropriate

clusters
 Elements within a cluster are often physically close
together and hence tend to have similar characteristics.

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 Example: Cluster sampling
Section 1 Section 2

Section 3

Section 5

Section 4

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Cluster sampling

 Advantages
 Simple as complete list of sampling units within
population not required
 Less travel/resources required

 Disadvantages
 Sampling error difficult to measure

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 Multi-Stage Sampling

 The four methods we've covered so far -- simple, stratified,

systematic and cluster -- are the simplest random sampling
strategies.
 The most important principle here is that we can combine the
simple methods described earlier in a variety of useful ways
that help us address our sampling needs in the most efficient
and effective manner possible. When we combine sampling
methods, we call this multi-stage sampling.

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Non Probability sampling
 Convenience sampling
 Quota Sampling
 Purposive sampling
 Network Sampling(snow ball sampling)

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 Convenience sampling

 It is used in exploratory research where the researcher is

interested in getting an inexpensive approximation of the
truth.
 As the name implies, the sample is selected because they are
convenient.

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Quota Sampling
 It uses a convenience sampling technique with added
feature - a strategy to ensure the inclusion of subjects
types who are likely to be underrepresented in the
convenience sample e.g. ethnicity , Hindu religion in
Pakistan

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 Quota sampling

 It is the non-probability version 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 stratums are filled
by random sampling.

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 Purposive /Judgment Sampling

 It is a common non-probability method. The researcher selects

the sample based on judgment.
 This is usually an extension of convenience sampling.
 For example, a researcher may decide to draw the entire
sample from one "representative" city, even though the
population includes all cities.
 When using this method, the researcher must be confident that
the chosen sample is truly representative of the entire
population.

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 Network / Snowball Sampling

 It is a special non-probability method used when the desired sample

characteristic is rare. It may be extremely difficult or cost
prohibitive to locate respondents in these situations. Snowball
sampling relies on referrals from initial subjects to generate
additional subjects.
 While this technique can dramatically lower search costs, it comes
at the expense of introducing bias because the technique itself
reduces the likelihood that the sample will represent a good cross
section from the population.

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Conclusions

 Probability samples are the best

 Beware of …
 refusals
 absentees
 “do not know”

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 References
1. Burns, N. & Grove, S.K (2007). Understanding Nursing Research, building
an Evidence-Based Practice 4th Edition.St. Louis, Missouri: Saunders.
2. Dawson, B., & Trapp, R. G. (2004). Basic & Clinical Biostatistics (4th
ed.). New York: Lange/McGraw-Hill
3. Harris, M. & Taylor, G. (2008). Medical Statistics Made Easy, 2nd
Edition. Oxford shire: Scion Publishing
4. Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2008). Nursing research: Generating and
assessing evidence for nursing practice (8th ed.). Philadelphia:
Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
5. Kerlinger FN. Foundations of Behavioral Research (Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, New York, NY).
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