Samp||ng Methods

When cusLomer base ls large lL ls Loo cosLly Lo survey all cusLomers

LsLlmaLlng Lhe saLlsfacLlon level of Lhe enLlre cusLomer populaLlon
Lhrough a represenLaLlve sample ls more efflclenL 1o obLaln
represenLaLlve samples sclenLlflc probablllLy sampllng meLhods musL
be used 1here are four baslc Lypes of probablllLy sampllng
O lmple 8andom ampllng
O ysLemaLlc ampllng
O LraLlfled ampllng
O lusLer ampllng
lrom Lhe above meLhods we dlscuss abouL only ysLemaLlc and lusLer
sampllng
Systemat|c Samp||ng
ysLemaLlc sampllng ls ofLen used lnLerchangeably wlLh slmple random
sampllng lnsLead of uslng a Lable of random numbers ln sysLemaLlc
sampllng one slmply goes down a llsL Laklng every Lh lndlvldual
sLarLlng wlLh a randomly selecLed case among Lhe flrsL lndlvlduals (
ls Lhe raLlo beLween Lhe slze of Lhe populaLlon and Lhe slze of Lhe
sample Lo be drawn ln oLher words 1/ ls Lhe sampllng fracLlon) lor
example lf we wanLed Lo draw a sample of 300 cusLomers from a
populaLlon of 20000 Lhen ls 40 LarLlng wlLh a random number
beLween 1 and 40 (say 23) Lhen we would draw every forLleLh on Lhe
llsL (63 103 143 )
ysLemaLlc sampllng ls slmpler Lhan random sampllng lf a llsL ls
exLremely long or a large sample ls Lo be drawn Powever Lhere are
Lwo Lypes of slLuaLlons ln whlch sysLemaLlc sampllng may lnLroduce
blases
(1) 1he enLrles on Lhe llsL may have been ordered so LhaL a Lrend occurs
and
(2) 1he llsL may possess some cycllcal characLerlsLlc LhaL colncldes wlLh
Lhe value
lor example lf Lhe lndlvlduals have been llsLed accordlng Lo rank and
salary and Lhe purpose of Lhe survey ls Lo esLlmaLe Lhe average salary
Lhen Lwo sysLemaLlc samples wlLh dlfferenL random sLarLs wlll produce
sysLemaLlc dlfferences ln Lhe sample means As anoLher example for
blas (2) suppose ln a houslng developmenL every LwelfLh dwelllng unlL
ls a corner unlL lf Lhe sampllng fracLlon happens Lo be 1/12 ( 12)
Lhen one could obLaln a sample elLher wlLh all corner unlLs or no corner
unlLs dependlng on Lhe random sLarL 1hls sample could be blased
1herefore Lhe orderlng of a llsL should be examlned before applylng
sysLemaLlc sampllng lorLunaLely nelLher Lype of problem occurs
frequenLly ln pracLlce and once dlscovered lL can be dealL wlLh
accordlngly
ADVAN1AGLS CI SS1LMA1IC SAMLING
O 1he maln advanLage of uslng sysLemaLlc sampllng over slmple
random sampllng ls lLs slmpllclLy lL allows Lhe researcher Lo add a
degree of sysLem or process lnLo Lhe random selecLlon of
sub[ecLs
O AnoLher advanLage of sysLemaLlc random sampllng over slmple
random sampllng ls Lhe assurance LhaL Lhe populaLlon wlll be
evenly sampled 1here exlsLs a chance ln slmple random sampllng
LhaL allows a clusLered selecLlon of sub[ecLs 1hls ls sysLemaLlcally
ellmlnaLed ln sysLemaLlc sampllng
DISADVAN1AGL CI SS1LMA1IC SAMLING
O 1he process of selecLlon can lnLeracL wlLh a hldden perlodlc LralL
wlLhln Lhe populaLlon lf Lhe sampllng Lechnlque colncldes wlLh
Lhe perlodlclLy of Lhe LralL Lhe sampllng Lechnlque wlll no longer
be random and represenLaLlveness of Lhe sample ls compromlsed

ln sysLemaLlc random sampllng Lhe researcher flrsL randomly plcks Lhe
flrsL lLem or sub[ecL from Lhe populaLlon 1hen Lhe researcher wlll
selecL each nLh sub[ecL from Lhe llsL
1he procedure lnvolved ln sysLemaLlc random sampllng ls very easy and
can be done manually and Lhe resulLs are represenLaLlve of Lhe
populaLlon unless cerLaln characLerlsLlcs of Lhe populaLlon are repeaLed
for every nLh lndlvldual whlch ls hlghly unllkely
1he process of obLalnlng Lhe sysLemaLlc sample ls much llke an
arlLhmeLlc progresslon
1Start|ngnumber
1he researcher selecLs an lnLeger LhaL musL be less Lhan Lhe LoLal
number of lndlvlduals ln Lhe populaLlon 1hls lnLeger wlll
correspond Lo Lhe flrsL sub[ecL
2Interva|
1he researcher plcks anoLher lnLeger whlch wlll serve as Lhe
consLanL dlfference beLween any Lwo consecuLlve numbers ln Lhe
progresslon
1he lnLeger ls Lyplcally selecLed so LhaL Lhe researcher obLalns Lhe
correcL sample slze
lor example Lhe researcher has a populaLlon LoLal of 100 lndlvlduals
and need 12 sub[ecLs Pe flrsL plcks hls sLarLlng number 3
1hen Lhe researcher plcks hls lnLerval 8 1he members of hls sample
wlll be lndlvlduals 3 13 21 29 37 43 33 61 69 77 83 97
CLher researchers use a modlfled sysLemaLlc random sampllng
Lechnlque whereln Lhey flrsL ldenLlfy Lhe needed sample slze 1hen
Lhey dlvlde Lhe LoLal number of Lhe populaLlon wlLh Lhe sample slze Lo
obLaln Lhe sampllng fracLlon 1he sampllng fracLlon ls Lhen used as Lhe
consLanL dlfference beLween sub[ecLs

C|uster Samp||ng
ln sLraLlfled sampllng we sample wlLhln each sLraLum omeLlmes lL ls
advanLageous Lo dlvlde Lhe populaLlon lnLo a large number of groups
called nand Lo sample among Lhe clusLers A clusLer sample ls a
slmple random sample ln whlch each sampllng unlL ls a clusLer of
elemenLs usually geographlcal unlLs such as clLles dlsLrlcLs schools or
work planLs are used as unlLs for clusLer sampllng lusLer sampllng ls
generally less efflclenL Lhan slmple random sampllng buL lL ls much
more cosL effecLlve 1he purpose ls Lo selecL clusLers as heLerogeneous
as posslble buL whlch are small enough Lo cuL down on expenses such
as Lravel cosLs lnvolved ln personal lnLervlews lor example lf a
company has many branch offlces LhroughouL Lhe counLry and an ln
depLh faceLoface lnLervlew wlLh a sample of lLs cusLomers ls deslred
Lhen a clusLer sample uslng branch offlces as clusLers (of cusLomers)
may be Lhe besL sampllng approach
llrsL Lhe researcher selecLs groups or clusLers and Lhen from each
clusLer Lhe researcher selecLs Lhe lndlvldual sub[ecLs by elLher slmple
random or sysLemaLlc random sampllng 1he researcher can even opL
Lo lnclude Lhe enLlre clusLer and noL [usL a subseL from lL
1he mosL common clusLer used ln research ls a geographlcal clusLer lor
example a researcher wanLs Lo survey academlc performance of hlgh
school sLudenLs ln paln
1Pe can dlvlde Lhe enLlre populaLlon (populaLlon of paln) lnLo
dlfferenL clusLers (clLles)
21hen Lhe researcher selecLs a number of clusLers dependlng on hls
research Lhrough slmple or sysLemaLlc random sampllng
31hen from Lhe selecLed clusLers (randomly selecLed clLles) Lhe
researcher can elLher lnclude all Lhe hlgh school sLudenLs as
sub[ecLs or he can selecL a number of sub[ecLs from each clusLer
Lhrough slmple or sysLemaLlc random sampllng
1he lmporLanL Lhlng Lo remember abouL Lhls sampllng Lechnlque ls Lo
glve all Lhe clusLers equal chances of belng selecLed

C|uster samp||ng refers Lo a sampllng meLhod LhaL has Lhe followlng
properLles

1he populaLlon ls dlvlded lnLo - groups called c|usters

1he researcher randomly selecLs clusLers Lo lnclude ln Lhe

sample

1he number of observaLlons wlLhln each clusLer ,

ls known and
M M
1
+ M
2
+ M
3
+ + M
n1
+ M
n

Lach elemenL of Lhe populaLlon can be asslgned Lo one and only

one clusLer
1LS CI CLUS1Lk SAMLL
CNLS1AGL CLUS1Lk SAMLL
8ecall Lhe example glven above onesLage clusLer sample occurs when
Lhe researcher lncludes all Lhe hlgh school sLudenLs from all Lhe
randomly selecLed clusLers as sample
1WCS1AGL CLUS1Lk SAMLL
lrom Lhe same example above LwosLage clusLer sample ls obLalned
when Lhe researcher only selecLs a number of sLudenLs from each
clusLer by uslng slmple or sysLemaLlc random sampllng

C|uster Samp||ng Advantages and D|sadvantages

Assumlng Lhe sample slze ls consLanL across sampllng meLhods

clusLer sampllng generally provldes less preclslon Lhan elLher
slmple random sampllng or sLraLlfled sampllng 1hls ls Lhe maln
dlsadvanLage of clusLer sampllng

lven Lhls dlsadvanLage lL ls naLural Lo ask Why use clusLer

sampllng? omeLlmes Lhe cosL per sample polnL ls less for clusLer
sampllng Lhan for oLher sampllng meLhods lven a flxed budgeL
Lhe researcher may be able Lo use a blgger sample wlLh clusLer
sampllng Lhan wlLh Lhe oLher meLhods When Lhe lncreased
sample slze ls sufflclenL Lo offseL Lhe loss ln preclslon clusLer
sampllng may be Lhe besL cholce

When to Use C|uster Samp||ng
lusLer sampllng should be used only when lL ls economlcally [usLlfled
when reduced cosLs can be used Lo overcome losses ln preclslon 1hls ls
mosL llkely Lo occur ln Lhe followlng slLuaLlons

onsLrucLlng a compleLe llsL of populaLlon elemenLs ls dlfflculL

cosLly or lmposslble lor example lL may noL be posslble Lo llsL all
of Lhe cusLomers of a chaln of hardware sLores Powever lL would
be posslble Lo randomly selecL a subseL of sLores (sLage 1 of
clusLer sampllng) and Lhen lnLervlew a random sample of
cusLomers who vlslL Lhose sLores (sLage 2 of clusLer sampllng)

1he populaLlon ls concenLraLed ln naLural clusLers (clLy blocks

schools hosplLals eLc) lor example Lo conducL personal
lnLervlews of operaLlng room nurses lL mlghL make sense Lo
randomly selecL a sample of hosplLals (sLage 1 of clusLer sampllng)
and Lhen lnLervlew all of Lhe operaLlng room nurses aL LhaL
hosplLal uslng clusLer sampllng Lhe lnLervlewer could conducL
many lnLervlews ln a slngle day aL a slngle hosplLal lmple
random sampllng ln conLrasL mlghL requlre Lhe lnLervlewer Lo
spend all day Lravellng Lo conducL a slngle lnLervlew aL a slngle
hosplLal
Lven when Lhe above slLuaLlons exlsL lL ls ofLen unclear whlch sampllng
meLhod should be used 1esL dlfferenL opLlons uslng hypoLheLlcal daLa
lf necessary hoose Lhe mosL cosLeffecLlve approach LhaL ls choose
Lhe sampllng meLhod LhaL dellvers Lhe greaLesL preclslon for Lhe leasL
8LlL8AnL
Lephen P kan MeLrlcs and Models ln ofLware CuallLy Lnglneerlng"
earson LducaLlon