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Sampling Methods: Techniques, Types, Examples
Sampling Methods: Techniques, Types, Examples
Sampling is a statistical procedure of drawing a small number of elements from a
population and drawing conclusions regarding the population.

Understanding Sampling and Sampling Methods in Research

What is Sampling?
What is Population in Research Sampling?
What is Census?
What is Non-probability sampling?
What is a Survey?
What is Sample Survey?
What is Target Population?
What is Finite Population?
What is Infinite Population?
What is Sampling Unit?
What is Sample Size?
How Sampling and Sample Design Related
How Sampling and Survey Design Related
Importance of Sampling
Types of Sampling
Probability Sampling
Non-Probability Sampling
Sampling With and Without Replacement
What is Sampling?
Sampling is the process of selecting a subset of people or social phenomena to be
studied from the larger universe.

The main objective of sampling is to draw inferences about the larger group based
on information obtained from the small group.

The main way to achieve this is to select a representative sample. A sound

representative sample should reflect all variables that exist in the population.

The term ‘population’ refers to all those who could be included in the survey. A
variable is any characteristic on which people or groups differ.

A variable is a set of mutually exclusive attributes of a sample unit: sex, age,

employment status, etc. The elements of a given population may be described in
terms of their attributes on a given variable.

The variable is closely associated with the term sampling frame. The sampling frame
lists all units in the population from which the sample will be selected.

The sampling method is less expensive and less time-consuming than the census
technique. It is convenient to administer a sample method as the small sample units
can be easily manageable.

The sampling method is also useful for the intensive and elaborate study of
selected units.

The main assumption behind the sampling technique is that though socio-legal
phenomena are complex, there appears to be a dominant unity in diversity, and it is
possible to draw a representative sample.

However, the choice of the unit should be clear, unambiguous, and definite.
Moreover, the sample unit must be adequate in size to be reliable.

However, to be reliable, the choice of sample units should be made with due care,
and the subject matter under the survey should be homogenous.

The main advantage of the sampling method is that it can facilitate the estimate of
the characteristics of the population in a much shorter time than would be possible
otherwise.

It is also less expensive as only fewer people need to be interviewed.

However, the sampling method also has some disadvantages, such as the possibility
of biases in selecting units, leading to false conclusions.

Biasness occurs when the decisions of the researcher about whom to sample are
influenced too much by personal judgments, prospective respondents’ availability,
or his implicit criteria for inclusion.

A biased sample does not represent the population from which the sample was
selected.

The use of sampling methods also requires the knowledge of sampling and the
selection of appropriate samples.

Moreover, if the units under sampling are liable to change, it isn’t easy to
maintain homogeneity.

What is the primary purpose of sampling in research?

Sampling is the process of selecting a subset of people or social phenomena from a
larger universe with the main objective of drawing inferences about the larger
group based on information obtained from the small group.

What are the potential disadvantages of the sampling method?

The sampling method can introduce biases in selecting units, leading to inaccurate
conclusions. It also requires knowledge of sampling techniques, and if units under-
sampling change, it’s challenging to maintain homogeneity.

What is Population in Research Sampling?

A population (also called a universe) is the total collection of all the population
elements, each of which is a potential case.

All students in a college, for example, constitute a population of interest, and

each student in the college questioned about his/her age, height, weight, or
opinion on any issue is a population element.

What is Census?
A census is an investigation or a count of all the population elements. Any part of
the population is a sample. If a sample is selected according to the rules of
probability, it is a probability sample or random sample.

If a sample is random, it is possible to calculate how representative the sample is

of the wider population from which it was drawn. The counterpart of the probability
sample is the so-called non-probability sample.

What is Non-probability sampling?

Non-probability sampling is a non-random and subjective method of sampling where
the units’ selection depends on the sampler’s personal judgment.

What is a Survey?
A survey is a general term that refers to the collection of data using interviews,
questionnaires, or observations.

What is Sample Survey?

A sample survey is a study involving a subset (or sample) of individuals selected
from a larger population by accepted statistical methods.

What is Target Population?

A distinction is sometimes made between the target population and the sampled
population. In research, the target population is the entire set of units for which
the survey data is used to draw conclusions and make inferences.

It can also be defined as the eligible population included in research work. It is

also called the survey population.

Ideally, the two will be the same, but for practical reasons, there will usually be
differences between them.

One reason for the difference is that some of the population in a survey are not
covered, so no information is obtained for them.

Depending on whether the sampling units are finite or infinite, a population may be
finite or infinite.

What is Finite Population?

A finite population contains a countable number of sampling units, for example, all
registered voters in a particular city in a given year or all customers who visited
the city store in May 2006.

What is Infinite Population?

An infinite population consists of an endless number of sampling units, such as the
number of coin tosses until a head appears. Sampling designed to produce
information about particular characteristics of a finite population is usually
called survey sampling.

What is Sampling Unit?

A sampling unit or simply a unit is a well-defined, distinct, and identifiable
element or group of elements on which observation is made.

In some studies, an individual in a household may be a sampling unit, while in

another study, the household may be a sampling unit. A sampling frame is a list of
units or groups of units in the population to be sampled.

What is Sample Size?

Sample size refers to the number of units contained in a sample, while population
size is the number of units that constitute the population.

The population characteristics about which the inferences are made are called
parameters.

For a given sample design, an estimator is a method or formula for estimating the
value of the parameter.

An estimate is the numerical value of the estimator obtained from the sample. Bias
is a term that refers to how far the average value of the estimator lies from the
parameter.

How Sampling and Sample Design Related

Sample design refers to the plans and methods to be followed in selecting a sample
from the target population and the estimation technique vis-a-vis the formula for
computing the sample statistics.

These statistics are the estimates used to infer the population parameters.

Implicit in the concept, the sampling design also includes issues such as the
choice of the sampling frame, determination of the sample size, estimation of
reliability of the estimates, stratification procedure, sample allocation method,
clustering of the sample, etc.

How Sampling and Survey Design Related

Survey design is preparing a complete plan of operations to be followed in
conducting a survey and disseminating its intended results.

We will elaborate on designing a survey in a separate article.

We, however, emphasize that the survey objectives covered under survey design
determine the sample design. In practice, the sample design must be developed as an
integral part of the overall survey design.

Survey design and sample design are thus two interrelated concepts, and one is
complementary to the other.

It is almost always desired that a sample design be evaluated for its perfection,
and a perfect sample design is expected to meet certain criteria, which include,
among others, the criteria of accuracy, reliability, validity, and efficiency.

Importance of Sampling
A sample is taken almost always to provide statistical data on an extensive range
of subjects for both research and administrative purposes.

The following examples are designed to illustrate the importance of sampling in

real life:

In an opinion poll, a relatively small number of persons are interviewed, and their
opinions on current issues are solicited in order to discover the attitude of the
community as a whole.
Marketing and advertising agencies conduct countless inquiries to determine
customers’ expectations, attitudes, buying habits, or shopping patterns. This
information is useful to the manufacturers of goods for sales promotion. Since it
is impossible to procure this information from countless customers, it is achieved
through interviewing a part of the customers.
Large lots of manufactured products are accepted or rejected by purchasing
departments in business or government following inspection of a relatively small
number of items drawn from these lots.
At border stations, customs officers enforce the laws by checking the effects of
only a small number of travelers crossing the border.
A department store wishes to examine whether it is losing or gaining customers by
drawing a sample from its list of credit card holders by selecting every tenth
name.
Auditors often judge the extent to which the proper accounting procedures have been
followed by examining a small number of transactions selected from a large number
of such transactions taking place within a specified period of time.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare might be interested to know the status of
knowledge among the adult population in Dhaka city on the danger of environmental
pollution by interviewing a few selected adults of the city.
Countless measurements of the economy, health, labor force, contraceptive use,
immunization, unemployment, income, export, import, industrial products, and the
like rely on samples rather than on complete enumeration.
Numerous surveys are being conducted to develop, test, and refine hypotheses in
sociology, psychology, demography, political science, anthropology, geography,
economics, education, and public health.

Both local and central governments make considerable use of survey data to be aware
of the various population characteristics for planning and development purposes.

In every case, a sample is selected because it is impossible, inconvenient, slow,

or uneconomical to monitor the entire population.

It is now widely agreed that a sample survey is a popular and scientific data
collection method.

Types of Sampling
Probability Sampling
It refers to a sample that has been selected using random selection so that each
unit in the population has a known chance of being selected.

In other words, individual units are chosen from the whole group, not deliberately
but by some mechanical processes.

Thus, probability sampling is also known as ‘random sampling.’

Probability sampling is instrumental when researchers want precise, statistical

descriptions of large populations- for example, the percentage of unemployed
populations or plans to vote for candidate X, etc.

Thus, probability sampling is used in large-scale surveys. Probability sampling has

the advantage of eliminating human biases in sampling. The sample error in this
method can be kept to a minimum.

Probability sampling enhances the representativeness of sampling and provides for

generalization from a sample to the population.

There are three types of probability sampling methods are (1) Simple Random
Sampling, (2) Stratified Random Sampling and (3) Non-Probability Sampling.

1.1) Simple Random Sampling

This is the basic form of a probability sample. In this random sample, each
population unit has an equal probability of inclusion in the sample.

The key steps of devising a simple random sample include defining the population,
deciding on sample size, and selecting the mechanical process.

Generally, in this type of sampling, the units composing a population are assigned
numbers.

Then a set of random numbers is generated and the units having those numbers are
included in the sample. Simple random sampling is free from bias and is generally
more representative.

1.2) Stratified Random Sampling

Random sampling will likely, by chance, include a higher proportion of one group of
people than there should be for it to be truly representative.

To avoid this problem, stratified random sampling is employed. Stratified random

sampling is employed when the population from which a sample is drawn does not
constitute a homogenous group.
Thus, stratification means grouping the units composing a population into
homogeneous before sampling. In this type of sampling, the population is stratified
by criteria, and then the selection is made through simple random sampling from the
resulting strata.

In other words, under this method, the population is divided into several
subpopulations that are individually more homogenous than the total population.

Then the selection is made from each stratum to constitute a representative sample.

The stratified random sampling ensures that the resulting sample will be
distributed similarly to the population in terms of the stratifying criterion.

Stratified sampling can ensure greater representativeness of the sample if the

stratification process is based on objective criteria.

1.3) Systematic Sampling

In systematic sampling, the population is listed so that its order can uniquely
identify each population element.

The list of elements in the population is usually ordered randomly concerning the
trait to be measured. In this sense, it is also equivalent to simple random
sampling.

However, here sample is selected at every sampling interval.

Typically, simple random sampling requires a list of elements. When such a list is
available, researchers usually employ systematic sampling.

For instance, if the list contains 10,000 elements and the researcher wanted a
sample of 1,000, he should select every tenth element for his sample.

Non-Probability Sampling
Non-probability sampling means a sample that has not been selected using a random
method. In this method, units for the sample are selected deliberately by the
researcher.

Thus, in non-probability sampling, the researcher purposely chooses the particular

population units with certain characteristics for constituting a sample because
such units will represent the entire population.

There are two main types of non-probability sampling are (1) Judgement of Purposive
Sampling and (2) Quota Sampling.

2.1) Judgement of Purposive Sampling

In the judgment of purposive sampling, the researcher selects the units to form his
sample on his own judgment.

The essence of this method is that the researcher, presumably having sufficient
knowledge about the population and its elements, uses his experience to select a
sample that will be the most useful or representative.

This technique is useful in cases where the whole data is homogeneous, and the
researcher has full knowledge of the various aspects of the problem.

2.2) Quota Sampling

This combines judgment and probability procedures. Here, the population is
classified into several categories based on judgment, assumption, or previous
knowledge.

First, people are selected globally: gender, age, class, locality, etc.

For instance, in conducting research, the researcher may need to know what
proportions of the population are male and what proportion are female, what
proportions of each gender fall into various age categories, educational levels,
ethnic groups, etc.

Quota sampling aims to produce a sample that reflects a population in terms of the
relative proportions of people in different categories.

Quota sampling is much quicker and cheaper than proper probability sampling.

Sampling With and Without Replacement

A sample may be drawn with replacement (SWR) or without replacement (SWOR).

Suppose the sample is taken with replacement from a population, finite or infinite.

In that case, the unit drawn is returned to the population, and the number of units
available for future drawing is not affected.

Consequently, the probability of drawing any remaining unit in successive

selections will remain unaltered.

In sampling without replacement, the unit drawn is not returned to the population
in subsequent drawings. Unlike sampling with replacement, the probability of
drawing any remaining unit in successive selections will be increased.

Sampling with replacement is sometimes referred to as unrestricted sampling. In

general, sampling with replacement is less precise than sampling without
replacement.

Intuitively, sampling with replacement seems rather wasteful.

In practice, almost all sampling is done without replacement since there is little
justification for studying the characteristics of the units, which have already
been included in the previous selection.

Sampling with replacement is of interest primarily for theoretical interest since

the formula for the variance and estimated variance of the estimators are often
simpler when the sampling is made with replacement than when it is made without
replacement.

Example#1

Suppose we have 4 members in a family to whom we assign serial numbers 1, 2, 3, 4.

We need to select two of them for an interview. In this particular instance, we say
that we have a population of size 4 (i.e., AM) from which a sample of size 2 (i.e.,
m=2) is to be selected.

To select these two members without replacement, there will be altogether 6

possible samples of each of 2 members. The accompanying table displays all possible
samples of size 2:

Table: Samples of Size 2 without Replacement

Sample # Samples consisting of Serial numbers

1 (1.2)
2 (1,3)
3 (1,4)
4 (2,3)
5 (2,4)
6 (3,4)
In practice, we deal with only one sample, which might be any of the above cases.

If sample number 3 is selected, we will seek information from members 1 and 4 to

meet our survey objectives.

Example# 2

Refer to the Example above. If sampling is done with replacement, there will be 16
possible samples, each of size 2. Table 5.2 shows these samples.

Table: Samples of Size 2 with Replacement

Sample # Serial numbers Sample # Serial numbers

1 (1-1) 9 (3,1)
2 (1,2) 10 (3,2)
3 (1,3) 11 (3,3)
4 (1,4) 12 (3,4)
5 (2, 1) 13 (4,1)
6 (2, 2) 14 (4, 2)
7 (2, 3) 15 (4,3)
8 (2, 4) 16 (4, 4)
Note that sample 3 (for example) and sample 9 are, in fact, identical. If we select
sample 3, we do not obtain any extra information by selecting sample 9.

How does a simple random sampling method work?

Simple random sampling is a basic form of a probability sample where each
population unit has an equal probability of inclusion. Units are assigned numbers,
a set of random numbers is generated, and the units with those numbers are included
in the sample.

What is the difference between probability sampling and non-probability sampling?

Probability sampling uses random selection, ensuring each unit in the population
has a known chance of being selected. Non-probability sampling is non-random and
subjective, where the selection of units depends on the researcher’s judgment.

What is stratified random sampling, and when is it used?

Stratified random sampling is employed when the population is not homogenous. The
population is divided into several subpopulations or strata, and then selections
are made from each stratum to constitute a representative sample.

How does sampling with replacement differ from sampling without replacement?
In sampling with replacement, a unit drawn is returned to the population for future
drawings, keeping the probability of drawing any unit constant. In sampling without
replacement, once a unit is drawn, it’s not returned, altering the probability for
successive selections.

What is the difference between a finite population and an infinite population in

sampling?
A finite population contains a countable number of sampling units, like all
registered voters in a city. An infinite population consists of an endless number
of sampling units, such as the number of coin tosses until a head appears.

Following our deep dive into sampling methods; use our total guide on legal
research and research and research methodology concepts.