SAMPLING

AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUES

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 POPULATION OR UNIVERSE
Refers to the totality of objects,
individual or reactions that can be
described as having a unique
combination of qualities
Totality of elements to which
research findings may apply
A group to which a researcher
would like the results to be
generalized
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 SAMPLE – is the small group that is
a sub-aggregate drawn from the
population
- a fraction of all the
sampling units in the total
population

* SAMPLING – a process which

involves taking a part of the
population, making observations on
this representative groups, and then
generalizing the findings to the
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 TARGET POPULATION
– this is the group of individuals
or objects which is of interest to the
researcher and about which
speculative information is desired.
SUBJECTS OR RESPONDENT
POPULATION
- this is the group of individuals
or objects chosen to provide actual
4 data and information needed in a
 SAMPLING
A sample is “a smaller (but hopefully
representative) collection of units from a
population used to determine truths about that
population” (Field, 2005)
Why sample?
Resources (time, money) and workload
Gives results with known accuracy that can be
calculated mathematically
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……
What is your population of interest?
To whom do you want to generalize your
results?
Nursing students
School children
Senior high school students
Women aged 15-45 years
Other
Can you sample the entire population?

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SAMPLING…….

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…….

STUDY POPULATION

SAMPLE

TARGET POPULATION

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 Types of Samples

Probability (Random) Samples

 Simple random sample
Systematic random sample
Stratified random sample
Multistage sample
Multiphase sample
Cluster sample
Non-Probability Samples
Convenience sample
Purposive sample
Quota

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 Process
The sampling process comprises several
stages:
Identify the target population or the
universe
Identify the respondent population
Specify the inclusion and exclusion criteria
for respondent selection
Specify the sampling design
Recruit the subjects

Exclusion criteria are characteristics that

exclude a potential subject from the study.
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Some individuals are not suitable for the
 PROBABILITY SAMPLING

 A probability sampling scheme is one in which

every unit in the population has a chance (greater
than zero) of being selected in the sample, and
this probability can be accurately determined.

 . When every element in the population does have

the same probability of selection, this is known as
an 'equal probability of selection' (EPS) design.
Such designs are also referred to as 'self-
weighting' because all sampled units are given
the same weight.

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 PROBABILITY SAMPLING…….

Probability sampling includes:

Simple Random Sampling,
Systematic Sampling,
Stratified Random Sampling,
Cluster Sampling
Multistage Sampling.
Multiphase sampling

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NON PROBABILITY SAMPLING
 Any sampling method where some elements of
population have no chance of selection (these are
sometimes referred to as 'out of
coverage'/'undercovered'), or where the probability of
selection can't be accurately determined. It involves
the selection of elements based on assumptions
regarding the population of interest, which forms the
criteria for selection. Hence, because the selection of
elements is nonrandom, nonprobability sampling not
allows the estimation of sampling errors..

 Example: We visit every household in a given street,

and interview the first person to answer the door. In
any household with more than one occupant, this is a
nonprobability sample, because some people are
more likely to answer the door (e.g. an unemployed
person who spends most of their time at home is
more likely to answer than an employed housemate
who might be at work when the interviewer calls) and
it's not practical to calculate these probabilities.

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 NONPROBABILITY SAMPLING…….
• Nonprobability Sampling includes:
Accidental Sampling, Quota Sampling and
Purposive Sampling. In addition,
nonresponse effects may turn any
probability design into a nonprobability
design if the characteristics of nonresponse
are not well understood, since nonresponse
effectively modifies each element's
probability of being sampled.

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 SIMPLE RANDOM SAMPLING
• Applicable when population is small,
homogeneous & readily available
• All subsets of the frame are given an equal
probability. Each element of the frame thus has
an equal probability of selection.
• It provides for greatest number of possible
samples. This is done by assigning a number to
each unit in the sampling frame.
• A table of random number or lottery system is
used to determine which units are to be
selected.

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SIMPLE RANDOM SAMPLING……..
 Estimates are easy to calculate.
 Simple random sampling is always an EPS design, but not
all EPS designs are simple random sampling.

 Disadvantages
 If sampling frame large, this method impracticable.
 Minority subgroups of interest in population may not be
present in sample in sufficient numbers for study.

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 SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING
 Systematic sampling relies on arranging the
target population according to some ordering
scheme and then selecting elements at regular
intervals through that ordered list.
 Systematic sampling involves a random start and
then proceeds with the selection of every kth
element from then onwards. In this case,
k=(population size/sample size).
 It is important that the starting point is not
automatically the first in the list, but is instead
randomly chosen from within the first to the kth
element in the list.
 A simple example would be to select every 10th
name from the telephone directory (an 'every 10th'
sample, also referred to as 'sampling with a skip of
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10').
 SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING……
 ADVANTAGES:
 Sample easy to select
 Suitable sampling frame can be identified easily
 Sample evenly spread over entire reference population
 DISADVANTAGES:
 Sample may be biased if hidden periodicity in
population coincides with that of selection.
 Difficult to assess precision of estimate from one
survey.

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 STRATIFIED SAMPLING
Where population embraces a number of
distinct categories, the frame can be organized
into separate "strata." Each stratum is then
sampled as an independent sub-population, out
of which individual elements can be randomly
selected.
Every unit in a stratum has same chance of
being selected.
Using same sampling fraction for all strata
ensures proportionate representation in the
sample.
Adequate representation of minority subgroups
of interest can be ensured by stratification &
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varying sampling fraction between strata as
 STRATIFIED SAMPLING……

Divides the population into homogenous

subgroups from which elements are selected
at random. This is done to ensure
representativeness of the sample size by
grouping elements with similar strata and
select the desired number of elements.

Finally, since each stratum is treated as an

independent population, different sampling
approaches can be applied to different strata.

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 CLUSTER /MULTI-STAGE SAMPLING
Cluster sampling is an example of 'two-stage
sampling' .
 First stage a sample of areas is chosen;
 Second stage a sample of respondents within
those areas is selected.
 Population divided into clusters of
homogeneous units, usually based on
geographical contiguity.
Sampling units are groups rather than
individuals.
A sample of such clusters is then selected.
All units from the selected clusters are
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studied.
 CLUSTER SAMPLING…….
Advantages :
Cuts down on the cost of preparing a
sampling frame.
This can reduce travel and other
administrative costs.
Disadvantages: sampling error is higher for
a simple random sample of same size.
Often used to evaluate vaccination
coverage in EPI

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 MULTISTAGE SAMPLING

 Complex form of cluster sampling in which two or more

levels of units are embedded one in the other.

 First stage, random number of districts chosen in all

states.

 Followed by random number of talukas, villages.

 Then third stage units will be houses.

 All ultimate units (houses, for instance) selected at last

step are surveyed.

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 KINDS OF NON-PROBABILITY
SAMPLING
QUOTA SAMPLING
CONVENIENCE OR ACCIDENTAL
SAMPLING
PURPOSIVE OR JUDGMENT
SAMPLING
SNOWBALL OR NETWROK OR
CHAIN SAMPLING

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 QUOTA SAMPLING
 The population is first segmented into
mutually exclusive sub-groups, just as in
stratified sampling.
 Then judgment used to select subjects or units from
each segment based on a specified proportion.
 For example, an interviewer may be told to sample
200 females and 300 males between the age of 45
and 60.
 It is this second step which makes the technique one
of non-probability sampling.
 In quota sampling the selection of the sample is
non-random.
 For example interviewers might be tempted to
interview those who look most helpful. The problem
is that these samples may be biased because not
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element is its greatest weakness and quota versus
 CONVENIENCE SAMPLING
 Sometimes known as grab or opportunity sampling or
accidental or haphazard sampling.
 A type of nonprobability sampling which involves the sample
being drawn from that part of the population which is close to
hand. That is, readily available and convenient.
 The researcher using such a sample cannot scientifically
make generalizations about the total population from this
sample because it would not be representative enough.
 For example, if the interviewer was to conduct a survey at a
shopping center early in the morning on a given day, the
people that he/she could interview would be limited to those
given there at that given time, which would not represent the
views of other members of society in such an area, if the
survey was to be conducted at different times of day and
several times per week.
 This type of sampling is most useful for pilot testing.
 In social science research, snowball sampling is a similar
technique, where existing study subjects are used to recruit
more subjects into the sample.
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CONVENIENCE SAMPLING…….

 Use results that are easy to get

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 Judgmental sampling or Purposive
sampling
- The subjects are handpicked to be
included in the sampling frame based on
certain qualities for the purposes of the
study.
The researcher chooses the sample based
on who they think would be appropriate for
the study. This is used primarily when there
is a limited number of people that have
expertise in the area being researched

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 IMPORTANCE OF SAMPLING
ENSURES QUALITY OF SUBJECTS THROUGH
ITS INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION CRITERIA
ACKNOWLEDGES AND SPECIFIES THE
SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
MAXIMIZES TIME AND EFFORT FOR BETTER
AND ACCURATE COLLECTION OF DATA
ENSURES THE QUALITY OF DATA SINCE THE
SAMPLING PROCESS HELPS CONTROL OR
ELIMINATES EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES
ECONOMICAL AND FINANCIAL CONCERNS

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