Slovin's Formula

Slovin's formula 

- is used to calculate the sample size (n) given the population size (N) and a margin of
error (e). 

- it's a random sampling technique formula to estimate sampling size 

-It is computed as n = N / (1+Ne2).

whereas: 
n = no. of samples
N = total population
e = error margin / margin of error

When to use slovin's formula? 

- If a sample is taken from a population, a formula must be used to take into account
confidence levels and margins of error. When taking statistical samples, sometimes a
lot is known about a population, sometimes a little and sometimes nothing at all. For
example, we may know that a population is normally distributed (e.g., for heights,
weights or IQs), we may know that there is a bimodal distribution (as often happens with
class grades in mathematics classes) or we may have no idea about how a population
is going to behave (such as polling college students to get their opinions about quality of
student life). Slovin's formula is used when nothing about the behavior of a population is
known at at all.

How to use slovin's formula? (Examples)

- To use the formula, first figure out what you want your error of tolerance to be. For
example, you may be happy with a confidence level of 95 percent (giving a margin error
of 0.05), or you may require a tighter accuracy of a 98 percent confidence level (a
margin of error of 0.02). Plug your population size and required margin of error into the
formula. The result will be the number of samples you need to take.

 In research methodology, for example N=1000 and e=0.05

n = 1000 / (1 + 1000 * 0.5²)
n = 1000 / (1 + 250)
n = 3.984063745 = 4 samplings

 A researcher plans to conduct a survey. If the population on High City  is

1,000,000 , find the sample size if the margin of error is 25%
      
First : Convert the Margin Error 25% by dividing it to 100             
Given:
N = 1,000,000
e = 25% = 0.025

n = 1,000,000/(1 + 1,000,000 ·0.025² )
n = 1,000,000/(1 + 1,000,000 · 0.000625 )
n = 1,000,000/(1 + 625 )
n = 1,000,000/626
n = 1597.44 or approx. 1597  

 Suppose that you have a group of 1,000 city government employees and you
want to survey them to find out which tools are best suited to their jobs. You
decide that you are happy with a margin of error of 0.05. Using Slovin's formula,
you would be required to survey n = N / (1 + Ne^2) people:

1,000 / (1 + 1000 * 0.05 * 0.05) = 286

 CROCHAN’S FORMULA
The Cochran formula allows you to calculate an ideal sample size given a desired level
of precision, desired confidence level, and the estimated proportion of the attribute
present in the population.
Cochran’s formula is considered especially appropriate in situations with large
populations. A sample of any given size provides more information about a smaller
population than a larger one, so there’s a ‘correction’ through which the number given
by Cochran’s formula can be reduced if the whole population is relatively small.
The Cochran formula is:

Where:
 e is the desired level of precision (i.e. the margin of error),
 p is the (estimated) proportion of the population which has the attribute in question,
 q is 1 – p.
The z-value is found in a Z table.
Cochran’s Formula Example
Suppose we are doing a study on the inhabitants of a large town, and want to find out
how many households serve breakfast in the mornings. We don’t have much
information on the subject to begin with, so we’re going to assume that half of the
families serve breakfast: this gives us maximum variability. So p = 0.5. Now let’s say we
want 95% confidence, and at least 5 percent—plus or minus—precision. A 95 %
confidence level gives us Z values of 1.96, per the normal tables, so we get

((1.96)2 (0.5) (0.5)) / (0.05)2 = 385.

So a random sample of 385 households in our target population should be enough to
give us the confidence levels we need.
Modification for the Cochran Formula for Sample Size Calculation In Smaller
Populations
If the population we’re studying is small, we can modify the sample size we calculated in
the above formula by using this equation:
Here n0 is Cochran’s sample size recommendation, N is the population size, and n is
the new, adjusted sample size. In our earlier example, if there were just 1000
households in the target population, we would calculate
385 / (1 + ( 384 / 1000 )) = 278

So for this smaller population, all we need are 278 households in our sample; a
substantially smaller sample size.