Important Terms of Sampling

Sampling: the process of drawing out a number of individuals from a larger population. Two types of
Sampling exists: Probability Sampling (Random) and Non probability Sampling.

Census: study of every individual in a population

Objective of Sampling: save of time, labor and cost

Population/Statistical Population: A population is the pool of individuals making up a whole.

A statistical population is the pool of individuals sharing something in common from which a statistical
sample is drawn for study. We have a variable of interest in statistical population.

 Animate and inanimate: living and non- living

 Concrete and abstract: A population which is well defined and measurable and consist those
observations that really exist is concrete.
 Finite and infinite: Finite population is also known as countable population in which the
population can be counted. Infinite population that cannot be calculated easily that is they are
unlimited in size.
 Existent and Hypothetical: Existent population is the population of the concrete individuals. A
population whose units are not defined in solid form such as a toss of coin is called as
hypothetical population.
 Sampled and Target: The sample population definition is a subset of a population of
interest whose data will be collected and used to describe the entire population of
interest. The target population is the entire population, or group, that a researcher is
interested in researching and analyzing. Then from this targeted population is the
sampling frame drawn.
 Discrete and Continuous: anything that is countable and can take on distinct values is discrete.
Anything that is measurable and can assume all possible values (numerical or fractional) within
an interval is continuous.

Parameter: characteristic of population

Population Size (N): the total number of individuals in a population

Sample: subset of population that exhibits same characteristics as population.

Random and Non-Random Sample: In Random Sample, each individual has an equal chance/probability
of getting selected. Whereas in Non-Random Sample, Sample is selected on the basis of convenience,
judgement and experience.

Statistics:
  In plural form Statistics is the Aggregate of Numerical Facts.
 In singular sense, a branch of mathematics dealing with the collection, analysis, interpretation
and presentation of Numerical Facts and Data
 And any quantity calculated from sample is called statistic

Sampling Units/Units: members of the population; an object that can be selected with known
probability from sampling frame.

Sample Size (n): the number of observations used for determining the estimates of population. Size of
the sample that has been drawn from population.

Variable of Interest (Random Variable X): variable is a characteristic that varies from person to person,
place to place and system to system. A variable whose values are determined by the outcomes of a
random experiment is called a Random Variable. Every random variable has its own probability
distribution.

Probability Distribution (Distribution of random variable X): A function that gives the probabilities of
occurrences of possible outcomes of an experiment.

Basic Purpose of sampling: to study a small group of people from the large group to derive
inferences that are likely to be applicable to all the people of the large group.

Reliability (standard error of statistic & its exact sampling distribution) : The standard error of a
statistic is the standard deviation of its sampling distribution. Standard error of statistics is
directly related to a test’s reliability. The lower the standard error, the greater the reliability.

Advantages of Sampling:

 Saves time, labor and cost

 With small resources you get more data
 Scope is high
 Quicker results
 Quality of study is better
 Effective if the population is too large

Sample Design and Sample Survey: Sampling design is a mathematical function that gives you the
probability of any given sample being drawn.

A sample survey is a survey which is carried out using a sampling method, i.e. in which the
selected sample of elements from a target population is surveyed only, and not the whole
population is surveyed.

Main Steps of Sample Survey: Objectives of the survey;

population to be sampled(target population) ; data to be collected and sample size; develop the
questionnaire; recruit data collectors;
selection of sample design and sampling units ( obtain information through questionnaire);
scrutinize the information gathered; Analyze and interpret the data.

Sampling Frame: is the list of all units of the population of interest from which the sample is drawn.

Probability & non-probability Sampling: Probability sampling involves random selection, allowing
you to make strong statistical inferences about the whole group in which the subjects of the
population get an equal opportunity to be selected as a representative sample. Non-probability
sampling involves non-random selection based on convenience or other criteria, allowing you to
easily collect data.

Sampling with and without replacement: with replacement: selected subjects are put back into the
population before another subject are sampled. Subject can possibly be selected more than
once.it generally produces independent events because the outcome of one random draw is not
affected by the previous draw.

Without replacement: you don’t replace the first item you choose before you choose a second.
All selected subjects are unique that is not selected more than once.  the items in the sample
are dependent because the outcome of one random draw is affected by the previous draw.

Sampling and non-sampling errors: A sampling error is a statistical error that occurs when an
analyst does not select a sample that represents the entire population of data

A non-sampling error is a term used in statistics that refers to an error that occurs during data
collection, causing the data to differ from the true values. 

Sampling Bias:  sampling bias is a bias in which a sample is collected in such a way that some
members of the intended population have a lower or higher sampling probability than others. 

Random Number Table: A random number table is a set of numbers usually with five digits
arranged in rows and columns. A random number table is used to select a sample of the
population randomly and fairly.

Probability sampling (SRS, Stratified Sampling, Systematic sampling, Cluster Sampling, Multi Stage,
Multi-Phase Sampling, Sequential sampling)

A simple random sample (SRS) of size n is produced by a scheme which ensures that each
subgroup of the population of size n has an equal probability of being chosen as the sample.

Stratified Sampling refers to the random sampling techniques that groups items of whole
population into different groups called strata, based on their similar characteristics.then samples
from each stratum is taken proportionately or disproportionately.

Systematic sampling is similar to simple random sampling, but it is usually slightly easier to
conduct. Every member of the population is listed with a number, but instead of randomly
generating numbers, individuals are chosen at regular intervals.
Cluster sampling is a probability sampling method in which you divide a population into clusters,
such as districts or schools, and then randomly select some of these clusters as your sample.

Multistage sampling is a method of obtaining a sample from a population by splitting a

population into smaller and smaller groups and taking samples of individuals from the smallest
resulting groups.

Multi-phase sampling is a type of sampling design in which required information is collected

from a large sample of units, and additional information is collected from the sub-samples of the
whole sample either at the same time or at a later stage.

In sequential sampling, a sequence of one or more samples is taken from a group. Once the
group has been sampled, a hypothesis test is performed to see if you can reach a conclusion. If
you can't, the whole procedure is repeated.

Non-Probability sampling (Purposive and Quota Sampling): A purposive sample is where a

researcher selects a sample based on their knowledge about the study and population.   in which
units are selected because they have characteristics that you need in your sample.

Quota sampling: selecting participants in numbers proportionate to their numbers in the larger
population, no randomization.

Sampling distribution of Mean: The Sampling Distribution of the Mean is the mean of the
population from where the items are sampled.

Central Limit Theorem: The central limit theorem in statistics states that, given a sufficiently
large sample size, the sampling distribution of the mean for a variable will approximate a normal
distribution regardless of that variable’s distribution in the population.

Sampling Distribution of Sampling Proportion: The Sampling Distribution of Proportion measures

the proportion of success, i.e. a chance of occurrence of certain events, by dividing the number
of successes i.e. chances by the sample size 'n'

Sampling Distribution of Variance: