Sampling design

RECAP
 Assignment questions
• What is the sampling design in the TDHS?
How was it implemented?

• What was the sampling design in the paper

you have read? How was it implemented?
• Study population

Sample

Sampling
 Sampling: A Pictorial View

Sampled
(Study) Sample
Population

Target Population

Target Population ➔ Sampled Population ➔ Sample

4
BIAS IN SAMPLING
 DEFINITION
Bias in sampling refers to the distortion
of results as a result of some influences
in selecting a sample from the
population.
 SOURCES OF BIAS
• Non-response: respondents refuse to respond or forget to fill in
the information
• Use of only volunteers as study population
• Use of registered patients only
• Use of hospital or clinic populations
• Conducting a study in one season only for a problem which is
known to vary with season
• Selecting a study area because they are easily accessible (Tarmac
bias)
• Missing cases of short duration
 STRATEGY TO REDUCE NON-
RESPONSE BIAS

• Pre-testing the questionnaire

• Follow-up of non-respondents

• Include additional people in the sample (exceed

minimum sample size)
Standard error and confidence interval
(Single mean & proportion)
 Statistical Inference…
Statistical inference is the process by which we acquire
information and draw conclusions about populations from
samples.

In order to do inference, we require the skills and knowledge of descriptive statistics,

probability distributions, and sampling distributions.

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 Estimation…
There are two types of inference: estimation and hypothesis
testing; estimation is introduced first.

The objective of estimation is to determine the approximate

value of a population parameter on the basis of a sample
statistic.

E.g., the sample mean ( ) is employed to estimate the

population mean ( ).

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 Estimation…
The objective of estimation is to determine the
approximate value of a population parameter on the basis
of a sample statistic.

There are two types of estimators:

Point Estimator

Interval Estimator

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 Point Estimator…
A point estimator draws inferences about a population by
estimating the value of an unknown parameter using a single
value or point.

• The point estimator gets closer to the parameter value

with an increased sample size
• Point estimators don’t reflect the effects of larger sample
sizes. Hence we will employ the interval estimator to
estimate population parameters…

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 Interval Estimator…
An interval estimator draws inferences about a population
by estimating the value of an unknown parameter using an
interval.

That is we say (with some ___% certainty) that the

population parameter of interest is between some lower and
upper bounds.

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A point estimate of a parameter is
the value of a statistic that estimates
the value of the parameter.
 Standard deviation (SD)
Recall, SD is the square root of the variance

Measures variability or spread from the mean.

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 Sampling distribution
• The sample mean is unlikely to be exactly equal to the
population mean.

• A different sample would give a different estimate due to

sampling variation.

• A statistic that is arrived through repeated sampling from

a larger population is a sampling distribution.

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 Standard error of the mean (SEM)
• Measures how far the sample mean is likely to be from
the true population mean.

• Measures how precisely the population mean is estimated

by the sample mean.

• Definition: average variation of all possible simple

random samples of a certain size that could be
hypothetically drawn from the target population

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 STANDARD ERROR
• The standard deviation of the sampling
distribution would equal;

and is called the standard error of the mean.

Where:
SE = standard error

s = sample standard deviation

n = sample size
 = square root (sqrt)
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 Sampling Error

• No sample is the exact mirror image of the population

• Magnitude of error can be measured in probability

samples

• Expressed by standard error (SE), e

of mean, proportion, differences, etc (e.g. SE of p)
• Generally, the standard error is a function of
o sample size, n
o amount of variability in measuring factor of interest

21
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 Standard Deviation vs. Sampling Error
• In summary;
o The standard deviation measures the amount of variability in
the population.

o The standard error measures the amount of variability in the

sample mean; it indicates how closely the population mean is
likely to be estimated by the sample mean.

Copyright © 2005 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. 22

 Non-Sampling Error
Due to problems in design or conduct
• Measurement Bias (systematic over or under-reporting)

• Selection Bias (part of target population not in sampled

population)
• Questionnaire Design

• Interview Bias

• Processing Error

• Non-response

• Under coverage

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 Questions?

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