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MATD 113

LECTURE TWO

SAMPLING METHODS

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Sampling Methods
 General Introduction
 Sampling is the procedure a researcher uses to gather people,
places, or things to study from a population.
 Research conclusions and generalizations are only as good as
the sample they are based on.
 Samples are always subsets or small parts of the total number
that could be studied.
 Population refers to the larger group from which the sample is
taken. You should at least know some of the overall
demographics; age, sex, class, etc., about your population.
 The greater the diversity and differences that exist in your
population, the larger your sample size should be.
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Definition of Terms
 Each individual element in the population whose characteristics
are to be measured is called elements or units and the population
about which information is required is call target population.
 Sample is the portion of the population selected for studies or a
subset of the population. The process of choosing the research
unit of the target population, which are to be included in the study
is called sampling.

 Sampling frame is referred to as a list of all the accessible

members of your population.

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Reasons Why Sampling is Necessary
 When studying the characteristics of a population, there are
many reasons why we prefer to sample and not using the
entire population

 Reasons
1) To contact the whole population would be time consuming.
2) The cost of studying all the items in a population may be
prohibited.
3) The physical impossibility of checking all items in the
population
4) The destructive nature of some test
5) The sample results are adequate

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Principles of Sampling
 Samples are used in a survey to draw a valid conclusion on the
population of interest. Due to this, the samples selected from a
population are expected to be true representative of the population.
For that reason it must be chosen by means of sound methodological
principles. The most important among these principles includes the
following:

 Sampling units must be easily identifiable and clearly defined

 Sampling units must be independent of each other, uniform and
same.
 Sampling units should appear only once in the population.
 Sampling units are not interchangeable; the same unit should be
used throughout the study.
 The selection process should be based on sound criteria and
avoid bias.
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Types of Sampling
 The are basically two types of sampling procedure: Probability
and Non-probability sampling.

 Probability Sampling: Is a procedure in which every element in

the population has a known, non-zero probability of being
selected.

 Non-Probability Sampling: Is a procedure in which elements of

the sample are selected on the basis of the judgment of the
investigator, convenience.

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Differences in Probability/Non-probability Sampling

 Probability Sampling:
 Allows the use of statistics, tests hypotheses
 Can estimate population parameters
 Eliminates bias
 Must have random selection of units

 Non-Probability Sampling:
 Exploratory research, generates hypotheses
 Population parameters are not of interest
 Adequacy of the sample can't be known
 Cheaper, easier, quicker to carry out

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Examples of Probability/Non-probability Sampling

 Examples of Probability Sampling:

 Simple Random Sampling
 Systematic Sampling
 Stratified Random Sampling
 Cluster Sampling
 Multistage Sampling

 Examples of Non-Probability Sampling:

 Purposive (Judgmental) Sampling
 Convenience (Accessibility) Sampling
 Quota Sampling
 Snowball (Chain) Sampling

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Probability Sampling

 Simple Random Sampling: is the basic sampling technique where

we select a group of subjects (a sample) for study from a larger group
(a population). Each individual is chosen entirely by chance and each
member of the population has an equal chance of being included in
the sample.

 Example:
 To select a sample of 60 students in a school out of 600 students,
make a list of all the 600 students in the school. Assign each
person a unique number, between 1 and 600. Then refer to a table
of random numbers. Starting at any point in the table read across
or down and note every number that falls between 1 and 600. Use
the numbers you have found to pull the names from the list that
correspond to the 60 numbers you found. These 60 people are
your sample.
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Probability Sampling

 Table of Random Numbers

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Probability Sampling

 Systematic Sampling: is a sampling technique where we select

every kth element in the population after the first element has been
chosen at random. Where k is an integer such that k  N and N and n
n
are the population and sample sizes, respectively.

 Example:
 For example, to select a sample of 25 dorm rooms in your college
dorm, make a list of all the room numbers in the dorm. Say there
are 100 rooms. Divide the total number of rooms (100) by the
number of rooms you want in the sample (25). The answer is 4.
This means that you are going to select every fourth dorm room
from the list. But you must first consult a table of random
numbers. Pick any point on the table, and read across or down
until you come to a number between 1 and 4. This is your random
starting point.
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Probability Sampling

 Stratified Random Sampling: is a sampling technique in which the

population is divided into a number of strata and a sample is drawn
from each stratum. These sub samples make up the final sample for
the study. The division of the population into strata is based on a
given criteria such as: Sex (male, female); Age (under 18, 18 to 28,
29 to 39) etc.
 Example:
 For example, to select a sample of 25 students in your college.
Given that the college has five dormitories, then the list of all the
students within each dorm will be obtained. From each dorm, a
sample of five students are then selected. The combined list of
the selected students will now form the sample for the study. This
allows the sample to be a representative of the entire college
irrespective of your room of residence. Similar sample can also
be obtained using the various programmes run by the college.
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Probability Sampling

 Cluster Sampling: is a sampling technique where the entire

population is divided into groups, or clusters and a random sample of
these clusters are selected. All observations in the selected clusters
are included in the sample.

 Example:
 Suppose that the Department of Agriculture wishes to investigate
the use of pesticides by farmers in Ghana. A cluster sample could
be taken by identifying the different regions in Ghana as clusters.
A sample of these regions (clusters) would then be chosen at
random, so all farmers in those regions selected would be
included in the sample. It can be seen here then that it is easier to
visit several farmers in the same region than it is to travel to each
farm in a random sample to observe the use of pesticides.
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Probability Sampling

 Multistage (Cluster) Sampling: is defined as a sampling method

that divides the population into groups (or clusters) for conducting
research. It is a complex form of cluster sampling, sometimes, also
known as multistage cluster sampling. During this sampling method,
significant clusters of the selected people are split into sub-groups at
various stages to make it simpler for primary data collection.
 Example:
 to check the Hb levels of all final year JHS pupils across
Winneba, clearly, it will not be feasible for you to take every
single student - that’s too much data to handle. So you, at
random, select a handful of schools, let’s say 15. From these
schools, you choose 20 students in final year. You will apply your
final test on the final subset sample you’ve chosen, and infer
results from this.
 If you’d taken cluster sampling, for example, you’d have chosen
a handful of schools and tested all their final years for their Hb
levels.
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Non-probability Sampling

 Purposive (Judgmental) Sampling: is a sampling procedure in

which the researcher purposely chooses respondents who in their
opinion are thought to be relevant to the research topic. In this case
the judgment of the investigator is more important than obtaining a
probability sample.

 Example: If a researcher wants to study the attitude of

Moslems to specific issues in Kumasi we may take random
sample of Enumeration area of Kumasi and study them. Since
Moslems are not randomly distributed in Kumasi but rather
centered in certainty places like Allabar, Moshi zongo and the
rest a random sample within the city will not be appropriate. It
would be appropriate to select sample from these areas to
satisfy the objectives of the study.
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Probability Sampling

 What is the difference between Multistage Sampling and

Multiphase Sampling?

 Example: Give an example to establish their differences??

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Non-probability Sampling

Convenience (Accidental) Sampling: is a sampling procedure in

which the researcher consider all the units he/she accidentally
come into contact with within a setting period of time. It is also
referred to as “accidental or haphazard sampling”.

 Example: If a researcher wants to study the attitude of 200

Christians to specific issues in Kumasi, he or she can visit any
of the churches in the city. At the entrance of the church, the
research will then interview any of the members coming out of
the church.
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Non-probability Sampling

 Quota Sampling: is a sampling technique in which the

researcher sets quotas of respondents to be chosen from a
specific population group by defining the basis of selection
such as marital status, age group etc. and the selection of the
respondents from the quota solely depend on the choice of the
interviewer.
 Example:
 For example, to select a sample of 25 students in your college out
of 500 students. Given that the college runs five programmes:
Mathematics, English, Agriculture, Science and Arts. The
enumerator may be asked to interview 10 Mathematics, 7
English, 5 Agriculture, 1 Science and 2 Arts students. The
selection of the students from the various programs is solely
depend on the enumerator.
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Non-probability Sampling

 Snowball (Chain or Network) Sampling: this method begins

with a few people or cases and then gradually increases the
sample size as new contacts are mentioned by the people you
started with. This approach is usually implement in hidden
populations which are difficult for researchers to access.

 Example: If a researcher want to find out the specific

information pertaining to drug users, you may have to start
with one person, then the person will introduce you to another
person and so on.
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Sampling Error and Non-sampling Error

 Since an inference is made on a whole population based on

the selected sample, the results are likely to vary from sample
to sample of the same size.
 Two major types of error can arise when a sample survey is
used: Sampling error and non-sampling error.
 Sampling error: refers to the difference between the sample
results and the results that would have been obtained if the
entire population are used using the same data collection
method.
 Non-sampling errors: are due to mistakes made in the
acquisition of data or due to the sample observation being
selected improperly.
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Sampling Error

 Another way to look as this is the differences in results for

different sample (of the same size) is due to sampling error

 Example:
 Two samples of size 10 of 1,000 households. If we happened
to get the highest income level data points in our first sample
and all the lowest income levels in the second sample, this is
a consequence of sampling error.

 Increasing the sample size will reduce this type of error

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Non-sampling Error

 There are three types of non-sampling errors:

 Errors in data acquisition
 Non-response errors, and
 Selection bias
 Increasing the sample size will not reduce this type of error
 Errors in data acquisition:
 Incorrect measurements being taken because of faulty
equipment
 Mistakes made during transcription from primary sources
 Inaccurate recording of data due to misinterpretation of
terms
 Inaccurate responses to questions concerning sensitive
issues
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Non-sampling Error

 Non-responses error: refers to error (or bias) introduced

when responses are not obtained from some members of the
sample,

 Selection bias: this occur when the sampling plan is such that
some members of the target population cannot possibly be
selected for inclusion in the sample