Sampling Design

About..
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It is not possible to survey the population

It may be costly and time consuming
Sampling is the process of selecting units from a

population of interest
The sample represents the population

Sampling Design

Business Research Methods

Sampling Terminology
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Population: The group, we wish to generalize to

Sampling Frame: The listing of the accessible

population from which we will draw sample

Sample: The group of people who we select for our
study
Response: It is a specific measurement value that a
sampling unit supplies
Statistics: The statistics are mean, median, mode etc.
Parameter: If we measure the entire population and
calculate a value like mean or average
Sampling Design

Business Research Methods

The Sampling Distribution

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Sample statistic is calculated to estimate the

population parameter
In between the two is sampling distribution
The distribution is an infinite number of a sample of
the same size from a population is known as the
sampling distribution
It is rarely constructed

Sampling Design

Business Research Methods

Sampling Error
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The standard error is called sampling error

Sampling error gives us some idea of the precision of

our statistical estimate

A low sampling error means that we have relatively
less variability or range in the sampling distribution
The standard error is also related to sample size
The grater the sample size, the smaller the standard
error
If sample consists entire population then there is no
sampling error
Sampling Design

Business Research Methods

Sampling Methods
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Probability Sampling: Probability or random

sampling gives all members of the population a

known chance of being selected for inclusion in the
sample.

Simple Random Sampling

Systematic Sampling
Stratified Sampling
Cluster or Multi-stage Sampling

Non-Probability Sampling

Sampling Design

Business Research Methods

Simple Random Sampling

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This is the ideal choice as it is a perfect random

method
Individual are randomly selected from a list of the
population and every single individual has an equal
chance of selection

Sampling Design

Business Research Methods

Systematic Sampling
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It is a frequently used variant of simple random

sampling
When performing systematic random sampling,
every kth element from the list is selected from a
random selected starting point

Sampling Design

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Stratified Sampling
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It is used when there are a number of distinct sub-

groups, within each of which it is required that there

is full representation
A stratified sample is constructed by classifying the
population in sub-population, based on some wellknown characteristics of the population
The selection of elements is then made separately
from within each stratum, usually by random or
systematic sampling
Stratified Sampling has two types: Proportionate
and disproportionate
Sampling Design

Business Research Methods

Cluster or Multi-Stage Sampling

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It is a particularly useful in situations for which no

list of the elements within the population is available

and therefore cannot be selected directly
Cluster sampling is used if:

No list of the population exists

Well-defined clusters, which will often be geographical areas
exists
A reasonable estimate of the number of elements in each level
of clustering can be made
Often the total sample size must be fairly large to enable
cluster sampling to be used effectively

Sampling Design

Business Research Methods

Non-Probability Sampling
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Non-probability sampling procedures are much less

desirable, as they will almost certainly contain sampling

bias
In some circumstances such methods are unavoidable
In marketing research, the most frequently adopted form
of non-probability sampling is knows as quota sampling
It is similar to cluster sampling in that it requires the
definition of sub-groups
The main difference lies in the fact that quotas usually
proportions are set to match known population
distribution
Sampling Design

Business Research Methods

Non-Probability Sampling
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Interviewers then select respondents according to

these criteria rather than at random

Grouping is subjective in nature
It means that only about a proportion of the
population has a chance of being selected in a typical
quota sampling strategy

Sampling Design

Business Research Methods

Calculation of Sample Size

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What should be the sample size is a frequently asked

question
It is an important question although unfortunately
there is no single answer
In general, the larger the sample size, the more
closely your sample data will match from the
population
However in practice, you need to work out how many
responses will give you sufficient precision at an
affordable cost
Sampling Design

Business Research Methods

Calculation of Sample Size

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Calculation of an appropriate sample size depends upon a

number of factors unique to each survey and it is down to you to

make the decision regarding these factors
The three important are:

How accurate you with to be?

How confident you are in the result to be?
What budget you have available?

The temptation is to say all should be as high as possible

The problem is that an increase in either accuracy or confidence

(or both) will always require a larger sample and higher budget
Therefore, a compromise must be reached and you must work
out the degree of inaccuracy and confidence you are prepared to
accept
Sampling Design

Business Research Methods

Calculation of Sample Size

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Formula

s = (z/e)2

Where;
s = sample size
z= a number of relating to the degree of confidence you wish to
have in the result. Z is a normal variate, its value are available in
statistical table. However as already stated in rule of thumb,
95% confidence is most frequently used and accepted. The value
of z should be 2.58 for 99% confidence, 1.96 for 95%
confidence, 1.64 for 90% confidence and 1.28 for 80%
confidence
e = the error you are prepared to accept, measured as a proportion
of the standard deviation (accuracy)
Sampling Design

Business Research Methods

Example
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Imagine we are estimating mean income, and with to

know what sample size to aim for so that we can be

95% confident in the result. Assuming that we are
prepared to accept an error of 10% of the population
standard deviation, we would do the following
calculation:

s = (1.96/0.1)2 = 384.16 or around 385

Sampling Design

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For a Proportion
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s = z2(p(1 p))/e2
s = the sample size
z = the normal variate for your confidence level or probability
you wish to have in your results
p = an estimate of the proportion of people falling into the
group in which you are interested in the population
e = the proportion of error we are prepared to accept

Sampling Design

Business Research Methods

Example
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Imagine we are attempting to asses the percentage of voters who will

vote for a candidate X. We assume that we with to be 99% confident of

the result, i.e. z = 2.85 and that we will allow for errors in the region of
+/- 3%, i.e., e = 0.03. But in terms of an estimate of the proportion of
the population who would vote for the candidate (p), if a previous
survey had been carried out, we could use the percentage from the
survey as an estimate. However, if this were first survey, we would
assume that 50%, i.e. p = 0.5 of people would vote for the candidate X
and 50% will provide the most conservative estimate of sample size. If
the percentage were 10%, we will still have an accurate estimate; we
will simply have sampled more than was absolutely necessary. The
reverse situation, not having enough date to make reliable estimates is
much less desirable
s = (2.58)2 (0.5*0.5)/(0.03)2 = 1849
Sampling Design

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Calculation of Sampling Error

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In estimating the accuracy of a sample, there are two

critical variables; the size of the sample and the

measure being taken
A common mistake about sample size is to assume
that accuracy is determined by the proportion of a
population included in a sample
e = z(p%(100-p%))/s

e = sampling error, s = sample size, z = the number relating to

degree of confidence and p = an estimate of the proportion of
people falling into the group in which we are interested in the
population

Sampling Design

Business Research Methods

Example
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Calculate the sample error when sample size is 500, a

measure of 20% are aware of a brand (p), at the 95%

confidence level

e = 1.96(20*80)/500 = 3.5
This mean that based on a sample of 500 we can be

95% sure that the true measure (brand awareness)

among the whole population from which the sample
was drawn will be within +/- 3.5% of 20% i.e.,
between 16.5% and 23.5%
Sampling Design

Business Research Methods

Criteria for Selecting Sample

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Defining the population of concern

Specifying a sampling frame, a set of items or events

possible to measure
Specifying a sampling method for selecting items
Determining the sample size
Implementing the sampling plan
Sampling and data collecting
Data which can be selected

Sampling Design

Business Research Methods