Sampling Techniques

11-2

Classification of Sampling Techniques

Sampling Techniques

Nonprobability Probability
Sampling Techniques Sampling Techniques

Convenience Judgmental Quota Snowball

Sampling Sampling Sampling Sampling

Simple Random Systematic Stratified Cluster Other Sampling

Sampling Sampling Sampling Sampling Techniques
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Two Major Categories of Sampling

 Probability sampling
 Known, nonzero probability for every
element
 Non probability sampling
 Probability of selecting any particular
member is unknown
 11-4

Non-probability Sampling
 Convenience
 Judgment
 Quota
 Snowball
 11-5

Probability Sampling
 Simple random sample
 Systematic sample
 Stratified sample
 Cluster sample
 Multistage area sample
 11-6

Convenience Sampling
 Also called haphazard or accidental
sampling
 The sampling procedure of obtaining the
people or units that are most conveniently
available
 11-7

Convenience Sampling
Convenience sampling attempts to obtain a
sample of convenient elements. Often,
respondents are selected because they happen to
be in the right place at the right time.
 use of students, and members of social

organizations
 mall intercept interviews without qualifying the

respondents
 department stores using charge account lists

 “people on the street” interviews

 11-8

Judgment Sampling
 Also called purposive sampling
 An experienced individual selects the
sample based on his or her judgment about
some appropriate characteristics required
of the sample member
 11-9

Judgmental Sampling
Judgmental sampling is a form of convenience
sampling in which the population elements are
selected based on the judgment of the researcher.
 test markets
 purchase engineers selected in industrial
marketing research
 bellwether precincts selected in voting behavior
research
 expert witnesses used in court
 11-10

Quota Sampling
 Ensures that the various subgroups in a
population are represented on pertinent
sample characteristics
 To the exact extent that the investigators
desire
 It should not be confused with stratified
sampling.
 11-11

Quota Sampling
Quota sampling may be viewed as two-stage restricted judgmental
sampling.
 The first stage consists of developing control categories, or

quotas, of population elements.

 In the second stage, sample elements are selected based on

convenience or judgment.

Population Sample
composition composition
Control
Characteristic Percentage Percentage Number
Sex
Male 48 48 480
Female 52 52 520
____ ____ ____
100 100 1000
 11-12

Snowball Sampling
In snowball sampling, an initial group of
respondents is selected, usually at random.

 After being interviewed, these

respondents are asked to identify others
who belong to the target population of
interest.
 Subsequent respondents are selected

based on the referrals.

 11-13

Simple Random Sampling

 A sampling procedure that ensures that each
element in the population will have an equal
chance of being included in the sample
 11-14

Simple Random Sampling

 Each element in the population has a known
and equal probability of selection.
 Each possible sample of a given size (n) has
a known and equal probability of being the
sample actually selected.
 This implies that every element is selected
independently of every other element.
 11-15

Procedures for Drawing Probability Samples

Simple Random
Sampling

1. Select a suitable sampling frame

2. Each element is assigned a number from 1 to N
(pop. size)
3. Generate n (sample size) different random numbers
between 1 and N
4. The numbers generated denote the elements that
should be included in the sample
 11-16

Systematic Sampling
 A simple process
 Every nth name from the list will be drawn
 11-17

Systematic Sampling
 The sample is chosen by selecting a random
starting point and then picking every ith
element in succession from the sampling
frame.
 The sampling interval, i, is determined by
dividing the population size N by the
sample size n and rounding to the nearest
integer.
 11-18

Systematic Sampling
 When the ordering of the elements is related to the
characteristic of interest, systematic sampling
increases the representativeness of the sample.
For example, there are 100,000 elements in the
population and a sample of 1,000 is desired. In
this case the sampling interval, i, is 100. A
random number between 1 and 100 is selected. If,
for example, this number is 23, the sample
consists of elements 23, 123, 223, 323, 423, 523,
and so on.
 Procedures for Drawing
11-19

Probability Samples

Systematic
Sampling
1. Select a suitable sampling frame
2. Each element is assigned a number from 1 to N (pop. size)
3. Determine the sampling interval i:i=N/n.
4. Select a random number, r, between 1 and i, as explained in
simple random sampling
5. The elements with the following numbers will comprise the
systematic random sample: r, r+i,r+2i,r+3i,r+4i,...,r+(n-1)i
 11-20

Tennis' Systematic Sampling Returns a Smash

Sport Star magazine conducted a mail survey of its subscribers to

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

Rs.50 was included with the questionnaire as an incentive to

respondents. An alert postcard was mailed one week before the
survey. A second, follow-up, questionnaire was sent to the whole
sample ten days after the initial questionnaire. There were 76 post
office returns, so the net effective mailing was 1,396. Six weeks
after the first mailing, 778 completed questionnaires were returned,
yielding a response rate of 56%.
 11-21

Stratified Sampling
 Probability sample
 Sub samples are drawn within different
strata
 Each stratum is more or less equal on some
characteristic
 Do not confuse with quota sample
 11-22

Stratified Sampling
 A two-step process in which the population is
partitioned into subpopulations, or strata.
 The strata should be mutually exclusive and
collectively exhaustive in that every population
element should be assigned to one and only one
stratum and no population elements should be
omitted.
 Next, elements are selected from each stratum by a
random procedure, usually SRS.
 A major objective of stratified sampling is to
increase precision without increasing cost.
 11-23

Stratified Sampling
 The elements within a stratum should be as
homogeneous as possible, but the elements
in different strata should be as
heterogeneous as possible.
 The stratification variables should also be
closely related to the characteristic of
interest.
 Finally, the variables should decrease the
cost of the stratification process by being
easy to measure and apply.
 11-24

Stratified Sampling
 In proportionate stratified sampling, the size
of the sample drawn from each stratum is
proportionate to the relative size of that
stratum in the total population.
 In disproportionate stratified sampling, the
size of the sample from each stratum is
proportionate to the relative size of that
stratum and to the standard deviation of the
distribution of the characteristic of interest
among all the elements in that stratum.
 Procedures for Drawing
11-25

Probability Samples
Stratified
Sampling

1. Select a suitable frame

2. Select the stratification variable(s) and the number of strata, H
3. Divide the entire population into H strata. Based on the
classification variable, each element of the population is assigned
to one of the H strata
4. In each stratum, number the elements from 1 to N h (the pop.
size of stratum h)
5. Determine the sample size of each stratum, n h, based on
proportionate or disproportionate stratified sampling, where
H
nh = n
h=1
6. In each stratum, select a simple random sample of size nh
 11-26

Cluster Sampling
 The target population is first divided into
mutually exclusive and collectively
exhaustive subpopulations, or clusters.
 Then a random sample of clusters is
selected, based on a probability sampling
technique such as SRS.
 For each selected cluster, either all the
elements are included in the sample (one-
stage) or a sample of elements is drawn
probabilistically (two-stage).
 11-27

Cluster Sampling
 Elements within a cluster should be as
heterogeneous as possible, but clusters themselves
should be as homogeneous as possible. Ideally,
each cluster should be a small-scale representation
of the population.
 In probability proportionate to size sampling,
the clusters are sampled with probability
proportional to size. In the second stage, the
probability of selecting a sampling unit in a
selected cluster varies inversely with the size of
the cluster.
 Procedures for Drawing
11-28

Probability Samples Cluster

Sampling

1. Assign a number from 1 to N to each element in the population

2. Divide the population into C clusters of which c will be included in
the sample
3. Calculate the sampling interval i, i=N/c (round to nearest integer)
4. Select a random number r between 1 and i, as explained in simple
random sampling
5. Identify elements with the following numbers:
r,r+i,r+2i,... r+(c-1)i
6. Select the clusters that contain the identified elements
7. Select sampling units within each selected cluster based on SRS
or systematic sampling
8. Remove clusters exceeding sampling interval i. Calculate new
population size N*, number of clusters to be selected C*= C-1,
and new sampling interval i*.
 11-29

Types of Cluster Sampling

Cluster Sampling

One-Stage Two-Stage Multistage

Sampling Sampling Sampling

Simple Cluster Probability

Sampling Proportionate
to Size Sampling
 11-30

Examples of Clusters

Population Element Possible Clusters in India

Indian adult population States

Districts
Towns
Wards
Blocks
Households
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Examples of Clusters

Population Element Possible Clusters in India

College students Colleges

Working Executives in firms Districts
Towns
Localities
Plants
 11-32

Examples of Clusters
Population Element Possible Clusters in India

Airline travelers Airports

Airlines

Sports fans Football stadia

Basketball arenas
Cricket stadia
 11-33

Internet Sampling is Unique

 Internet surveys allow researchers to rapidly
reach a large sample.
 Speed is both an advantage and a
disadvantage.
 Sample size requirements can be met
overnight or almost instantaneously.
 Survey should be kept open long enough so
all sample units can participate.
 11-34

Internet Sampling
 Major disadvantage
 lack of computer ownership and Internet
access among certain segments of the
population
 Yet Internet samples may be representative
of a target populations.
 target population - visitors to a particular Web
site.
 Hard to reach subjects may participate
 Strengths and Weaknesses of 11-35

Basic Sampling Techniques

Technique Strengths Weaknesses

Nonprobability Sampling
Selection bias, sample not
Least expensive, least
Convenience sampling representative, not recommended for
time-consuming, most
descriptive or causal research
convenient

Judgmental sampling Low cost, convenient, Does not allow generalization,

not time-consuming subjective

Quota sampling Sample can be controlled Selection bias, no assurance of

for certain characteristics representativeness

Snowball sampling Can estimate rare Time-consuming

characteristics
 Strengths and Weaknesses of 11-36

Basic Sampling Techniques

Technique Strengths Weaknesses

Probability sampling

Simple random sampling Easily understood, Difficult to construct sampling

(SRS) results projectable frame, expensive,lower precision,
no assurance of representativeness.
Can decreaserepresentativeness

Systematic sampling Can increase

representativeness,
easier to implement than
SRS, sampling frame not
necessary
Difficult to select relevant
Stratified sampling Include all important
stratification variables, not feasible to
subpopulations,
stratify on many variables, expensive
precision

Cluster sampling Easy to implement, cost Imprecise, difficult to compute and

interpret results
effective
 Choosing Nonprobability vs.
11-37

Probability Sampling

Conditions Favoring the Use of

Factors Nonprobability Probability
sampling sampling

Nature of research Exploratory Conclusive

Relative magnitude of sampling Nonsampling Sampling

and nonsampling errors errors are errors are
larger larger

Variability in the population Homogeneous Heterogeneous

(low) (high)

Statistical considerations Unfavorable Favorable

Operational considerations Favorable Unfavorable