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APPLICATION OF SNOW BALL RANDOM AND

SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING

What is snowball sampling?

Snowball sampling is a non-probability sampling technique that is used by researchers to identify
potential subjects in studies where subjects are hard to locate.
Researchers use this sampling method if the sample for the study is very rare or is limited to a
very small subgroup of the population. This type of sampling technique works like chain referral.
After observing the initial subject, the researcher asks for assistance from the subject to help
identify people with a similar trait of interest.
The process of snowball sampling is much like asking your subjects to nominate another person
with the same trait as your next subject. The researcher then observes the nominated subjects and
continues in the same way until the obtaining sufficient number of subjects.
For example, if obtaining subjects for a study that wants to observe a rare disease, the researcher
may opt to use snowball sampling since it will be difficult to obtain subjects. It is also possible
that the patients with the same disease have a support group; being able to observe one of the
members as your initial subject will then lead you to more subjects for the study.

Types of Snowball Sampling

Linear Snowball Sampling

Exponential Non-Discriminative Snowball Sampling

Exponential Discriminative Snowball Sampling

Advantages of Snowball Sampling

The chain referral process allows the researcher to reach populations that are difficult to
sample when using other sampling methods.
The process is cheap, simple and cost-efficient.
This sampling technique needs little planning and fewer workforce compared to
other sampling techniques

Application of snowball sampling

1. Social computing
Snowball sampling can be perceived as an evaluation sampling in the social computing field. For
example, in the interview phase, snowball sampling can be used to fetch hard-to-reach
populations. Participants or informants with whom contact has already been made can use their
social networks to refer the researcher to other people who could potentially participate in or
contribute to the study.
2. Expert information collection
Snowball sampling can be used to identify experts in a certain field such
as medicine, manufacturing processes customer relation methods, etc. and gather professional
and valuable knowledge together.
For instance, 3M called in specialist from all fields that related to how a surgical drape could be
applied to the body using snowball sampling. Every involved expert can suggest another expert
that they may know who could offer more information.

What is systematic sampling?

Systematic sampling is a random sampling technique which is frequently chosen by

researchers for its simplicity and its periodic quality.
In systematic random sampling, the researcher first randomly picks the first item or subject from
the population. Then, the researcher will select each n'th subject from the list.
The procedure involved in systematic random sampling is very easy and can be done manually.
The results are representative of the population unless certain characteristics of the population
are repeated for every n'th individual, which is highly unlikely.
The process of obtaining the systematic sample is much like an arithmetic progression.
1. Starting number:
The researcher selects an integer that must be less than the total number of individuals in
the population. This integer will correspond to the first subject.
2. Interval:
The researcher picks another integer which will serve as the constant difference between
any two consecutive numbers in the progression.
The integer is typically selected so that the researcher obtains the correct sample size
For example, the researcher has a population total of 100 individuals and need 12 subjects. He
first picks his starting number, 5.
Then the researcher picks his interval, 8. The members of his sample will be individuals 5, 13,
21, 29, 37, 45, 53, 61, 69, 77, 85, 93.
Other researchers use a modified systematic random sampling technique wherein they first
identify the needed sample size. Then, they divide the total number of the population with the
sample size to obtain the sampling fraction. The sampling fraction is then used as the constant
difference between subjects.

Since systematic random sampling is a type of probability sampling, the researcher must
ensure that all the members of the population have equal chances of being selected as the
starting point or the initial subject.

The researcher must be certain that the chosen constant interval between subjects do not
reflect a certain pattern of traits present in the population. If a pattern in the population
exists and it coincides with the interval set by the researcher, randomness of the sampling
technique is compromised.