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.

SAMPLE VS. POPULATION
Population
Sample
SAMPLE SELECTION PROCEDURE
List all the units in the population from 1,2,,N
Sampling frame
Select a random number g in the interval
1<= g<=K, using a random mechanism e.g. random
number tables,
where K = N/n
K is called the Sampling Interval
N is the population size; n is the sample size
The random number g is called the random start
and constitutes the first unit of the sample
Take every k
th
unit after the random start
The selected units will be
g, g+k, g+2k, g+3k, g+4k, ,g+(n-1)k
Until we have n units


EXAMPLES
1) 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 10').

2) Example N =10000, n=100
k =10000/100 =100
Suppose g=87
We select the following units
87, 187, 287, 387,, 9987

EXAMPLES
3) For example, suppose you want to sample 8 houses from a street
of
120 houses. 120/8=15, so every 15th house is chosen after a
random starting point between 1 and 15. If the random starting
point is 11, then the houses selected are 11, 26, 41, 56, 71, 86, 101,
and 116
4) A researcher wants to select a systematic random sample of 10
people from a population of 100. If he or she has a list of all 100
people, he would assign each person a number from 1 to 100. The
researcher then picks a random number, 6, as the starting number.
He or she would then select every tenth person for the sample
(because the sampling interval = 100/10 = 10). The final sample
would contain those individuals who were assigned the following
numbers: 6, 16, 26, 36, 46, 56, 66, 76, 86, 96.


ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
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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