Example:

The following frequency table of distribution gives the ages of a population of 1000 teen-age
college students in a particular country.
Select a sample of 10 students using the random numbers table. Find the sample mean age and
compare with the population mean age.
Student-Population of a College
Age No. of Students
(X)
13 6
14 61
15 270
16 491
17 153
18 15
19 4
1000

Solution:
Step 1:
We will construct the column of cumulative frequencies to form the column of sampling
numbers.

Age No. of Students Cumulative Frequency

(X)
13 6 6
14 61 67
15 270 337
16 491 828
17 153 981
18 15 996
19 4 1000
1000

Here the numbers of student are 1000. So we will take the three digit of sampling numbers,
because sampling numbers are based on the cumulative frequency.

Age No. of Students Cumulative Sampling

(X) Frequency Numbers
13 6 6 000-005
14 61 67 006-066
15 270 337 067-336
ss16 491 828 337-827
17 153 981 828-980
18 15 996 981-995
19 4 1000 996-999
1000
The first student whose age is 13 has been allocated numbers 000 and the 6th student has been
allotted numbers 005. The 7th student whose age is 14 has been allocated numbers 006 and 61st
student has been allocated numbers 066. Similarly the last student whose age is 19 has been
allocated number 999.
Step 3:
We will select the sample from the random number tables.
As we know that that the numbers 0, 1, 2… 9 are uniformly distributed over the range 0-9,
numbers 00, 01, 02… 99 are uniformly distributed over the range 00-99 and numbers 000,
001, 002… 999 are uniformly distributed over the range 000-999.
Since the sampling numbers are three digit numbers so we will select the three digit random
numbers.
The random numbers are:
041, 103, 374, 171, 508, 652, 880, 066, 715, 471
The First selected random numbers is 041 which shows that 42 student has been picked. The
cumulative frequency of first class is 6 and second class is 67. So the 42 student will belong to
second class. The age of the 42 student in second class will be 14 years. Similarly the second
selected random numbers is 103 which shows that 104 student has been picked. The
cumulative frequency of first class is 6, second class is 67 and third class is 337. So the 104
student will belong to third class. The age of the 104 student in third class will be 15 years.
The ages of the students will be:
14, 15, 16, 15, 16, 16, 17, 15, 16, 16