CHAPTER 11

SAMPLING STRATEGIES
CENSUS, SAMPLING AND SURVEY
 Census and Sampling are methods of
collecting data from the population.

 Survey is a research strategy that collects

standardised data from a large number of
respondents.

 To put the three terms together, a Sample

surveys a portion (or a subset) of a
population while a Census surveys every
element in the population.
POPULATION AND POPULATION ELEMENTS
 Population in research refers to a complete
group of people (e.g., students, employees,
teachers, managers, patients or customers) or
institutions (e.g., households, stores, schools,
hospitals or firms) that share some common set
of characteristics.

 Population element refers to an individual

member in the population. Example: If
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) students are
the population of the study, the population
element would be the individual student.
WHEN IS SAMPLING NOT USED?

 Usually for a population size of fewer

than 50, it is more appropriate to collect
data from the entire population, so no
sampling is required.
 It is also more appropriate to do a census
study. Example: suppose the target
population is health tourism hospitals in
Malaysia. The sampling frame lists the
names of 41 health tourism hospitals
recognised by the Ministry of Health. The
population size is small, suggesting that a
census study is possible, and all 41
hospitals should be surveyed in a census
study.
WHEN IS SAMPLING USED?

 When we hardly know who makes

up the entire population.
 When there are cost and time
constraints.
 When there is a lot of error to
control and monitor.
 When lists are rarely up to date.

 When there is a destruction of the

Sampling Unit
 When the sample data are sufficient
for decision-making.
SAMPLING FOR QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE
STUDIES
STEPS IN SAMPLING
IDENTIFY THE TARGET POPULATION
 The target population of a research
topic is defined by the researcher and
needs to be clearly identified at the
beginning of a study.
 The study should be based on a clear
understanding of who or what is of
interest, as well as the type of
information required from that
population.
DETERMINE THE SAMPLING FRAME
 A sampling frame is a list that records all population elements.

 Once a target population is chosen, sampling frame availability can be

determined. Example: the sampling frame for a study that assesses UPM
students’ satisfaction level would be a list of students provided by the
registrar of UPM. If the population size of UPM students is 25,000, the
sampling frame should list 25,000 student names and contact details.

 There are also times when a sampling frame is not available. Example:
international tourists are the target population, but a sampling frame that
consists of the names of all international tourists coming to Malaysia is highly
confidential (for security reasons) and therefore not available to the
researcher.
DETERMINE SAMPLING STRATEGY
 The purpose of a sampling strategy is to select sampling units (e.g., female
consumers) as a sample (e.g., 500 female consumers) from the population (e.g.,
10 million).
PROBABILITY V.S NON-PROBABILITY SAMPLING
PROBABILITY SAMPLING TECHNIQUES
1. SIMPLE RANDOM SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
o This follows a lucky draw
procedure, where every unit in the
population has an equal chance of
being selected. First, you assign a
running number to each unit in the
sampling frame. Then, you select a
unit randomly accordingly to the
number suggested by a random
table.
2. SYSTEMATIC RANDOM SAMPLING
TECHNIQUE

 In this procedure, the first unit is

selected at random (following
random numbers). Then, the
subsequent unit is picked with kth
interval.
 Say k=10 and the first random
number is 7 (from a random table).
You simply pick sampling unit
numbers 7, 17, 27, 37 and so on.
3. STRATIFIED RANDOM SAMPLING
TECHNIQUE

 The purpose of this technique

is to provide fair
representation of subgroups.
First, the population is broken
into strata (homogeneous
groups). Elements in a strata
share similar characteristics.
Then, within each strata list, a
sampling unit is picked
randomly.
4. CLUSTER RANDOM SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
 Population is broken into
heterogeneous groups or
clusters. Each cluster consists
of units with very different
characteristics.
 For example, Malaysia has 13
states, representing 13 clusters
where each cluster has male
and female teachers. Within
each cluster, a unit is selected
randomly (following random
numbers).
NON-PROBABILITY SAMPLING TECHNIQUES
1. CONVENIENT SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
o This technique is completely
based on the convenience of the
researcher. Thus, the selection is
of those who happen to be at the
data-collection venue. Units are
selected conveniently. Elements
not at the data-collection venue
have no chance of being selected.
2. JUDGEMENTAL SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
 This technique imposes
judgements such as, for
example, Malaysians who have
travelled to 10 countries or
more, as they are presumed to
have rich information on issues
of interest (e.g., travel
experience). Thus, it approaches
units that meet the criteria
conveniently.
3. QUOTA SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
 Its purpose is to have fair representation of subgroups in
the sample.
 It is very similar to Stratified Sampling. The difference is
that Stratified Sampling selects units from each strata
randomly, while with this technique units within each
subgroup are selected conveniently until the quota is
achieved.
4. SNOWBALL SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
 The initial respondents are identified
conveniently through friends and
any subsequent respondent is
referred by a first respondent. This
is most commonly used when
dealing with rare populations (e.g.,
cancer survivors).
DETERMINE SAMPLE SIZE (QUANTITATIVE)

1. Use a sample size calculator that is available online.

2. Following a statistical rule, the desired ratio of sample size
to construct numbers should be 20:1 (Hair, Anderson,
Tatham and Black 1998).
3. A minimum sample size of 30 is required for statistical
analysis of each category within the overall sample.
4. The desired data analysis method plays a role in
determining sample size.
LEARNING
LEARNING
OUTCOMES
OUTCOMES
QUANTITATIVE – 4 WAYS
1. use sample size calculator that is available on
line

 Key in population size, confidence interval 5%

and confidence level of 95%, sample size required
will be generated for you.
 For instance, for a population size of 25,000, sample size generated
is 378.

Determine Sample Size

Confidence Level: 95% 99%
Confidence Interval:
Population:

         
17-22

Sample size needed:

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
LEARNING
LEARNING
OUTCOMES
OUTCOMES

23

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
LEARNING
LEARNING
OUTCOMES
OUTCOMES

2. Follow statistical rule

 the desired ratio of sample size to
construct numbers should be 20:1 (Hair,
Anderson, Tatham and Black 1998).
 When this ratio is observed, the result
should be generaliazble if the sample is
representative.

17-24

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
LEARNING
LEARNING
OUTCOMES
OUTCOMES

3. a minimum sample size of 30 is required for

statistical analysis of each category within the
overall sample.

 This is because only sample size of 30 or more

produce a sampling distribution that is very close
to a normal distribution that allows statistical
analysis to be performed (Stutely, 2003).
 Thus, in the case of a sub-category in the
population that has less than 30 units, all units
should be included as sample.
17-25

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
LEARNING
LEARNING
OUTCOMES
OUTCOMES

4. the desired data analysis method plays

a role in determining sample size.
 If the researcher desire to get reasonable
result, at least 200 sample size is required
(Hair et. al, 1998).

17-26

©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
DETERMINE SAMPLE SIZE (QUALITATIVE)
 The sample size requirements usually follow the rule of data
saturation.

 The theoretical sample size is a general guideline. Qualitative

research that aims to understand a fairly homogeneous
population requires 12 in-depth interviews (Guest et al.,
2006) while for a fairly heterogonous population, 25-30
interviews are needed (Creswell, 2007).
SELECT THE ACTUAL SAMPLING UNIT
 Select the individual unit for the sample based on the sampling
procedure of the chosen sampling technique.

 Then collect data from the sampling unit (e.g., employees,

tourists or teachers) using the methods, such as questionnaires,
interviews or observations, for primary data collection.