Lecture-15

Sampling Design and Procedure

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 Sampling

 It is the process of obtaining information from a subset (sample) of a larger group

(population)

 The results for the sample are then used to make estimates of the larger group

 Faster and cheaper than asking the entire population

 Two keys

1. Selecting the right people

2. Selecting the right number of the right people

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 Sampling

• Sample -- contacting a portion of the population (e.g., 10% or 25%)

– best with a very large population (n)

– easiest with a homogeneous population

• Census -- the entire population

– most useful when the population ("n") is small

– or the cost of making an error is high

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 Sample vs. Census
C on d it i o n s F a v o ri n g t h e U s e of
T y p e of S t u d y Sample Census

1. B u d g e t Sm a l l Large

2. T i m e available S h o rt Long

3. P o p u l a t i o n size L a rg e Sm a l l

4. V a ri a n c e in t h e characterist ic Sm a l l Large

5. C o s t of s a m p l i n g errors Low Hi g h

6. C o s t of n o n s a m p l i n g errors Hi g h Low

7. N a t u r e o f m e a s u r e m e n t Dest ructive N o n d es t ru c t i v e

8. At t en t ion t o individu al c a se s Yes No

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 …this (bad)…

Sample
Population

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 …or this (very bad)…

Sample

Population

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 Characteristics of Good Samples
• Representative

• Accessible

• Low cost

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 Terminology

• Population
 The entire group of people of interest from whom the researcher needs to obtain information.
• Element (sampling unit)
 one unit from a population
• Sampling
 The selection of a subset of the population
• Sampling Frame
 Listing of population from which a sample is chosen
• Census
 A polling of the entire population
• Survey
 A polling of the sample

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 Sampling Design Process
Define Population

Determine Sampling Frame

Determine Sampling Procedure

Probability Sampling Non-Probability Sampling

Type of Procedure
Type of Procedure Convenience
Simple Random Sampling Judgmental
Stratified Sampling Quota
Cluster Sampling
Determine Appropriate
Sample Size

Execute Sampling
Design

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 Define the Target Population
 It addresses the question “Ideally, who do you want to survey?” i.e. those who have
the information sought What are their characteristics. Who should be excluded?
– age, gender, product use, those in industry
– Geographic area
 It involves
– defining population units
– setting population boundaries
– Screening (e.g. security questions, product use )

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 Define the Target Population

• The Element (It is the object from which the information is desired) ......
Individuals
Families

• Sampling Unit (It is a unit containing the element, that is available for selection )….
Individuals over 20
Families with 2 kids

• Extent (It refers to the geographical boundaries)............

Families who eat fast food
Student groups doing MR

• Timing (It is the time period under consideration)..........

Bought over the last seven days

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 Determine the Sampling Frame
 Obtaining a “list” of population (how will you reach sample)
 Students who eat at McDonalds?
 young people at random in the street?
 phone book
 students union listing
 University mailing list
 Problems with lists
 omissions
 ineligibles
 duplications
 Procedures
 E.g. individuals who have spent two or more hours on the internet in the last week

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 Selecting a Sampling Design
 Non-probability sampling - unequal chance of being included in the sample (non-random)
– convenience sampling
– judgement sampling
– snowball sampling
– quota sampling

 Probability sampling - equal chance of being included in the sample (random)

– simple random sampling
– systematic sampling
– stratified sampling
– cluster sampling

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 Non-Probability Sampling

 Subjective procedure in which the probability of selection for some

population units are zero or unknown before drawing the sample.
 information is obtained from a non-representative sample of the population
• Advantages

Cheaper and faster than probability

Reasonably representative if collected in a thorough manner

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 Convenience Sampling

Convenience sampling attempts to obtain a sample of convenient elements. Often,

respondents are selected because they happen to be in the right place at the right
time.
• people in my class

• Mall intercepts

• People with some specific characteristic (e.g. bald)

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 Convenience Sampling

Example:
• Researchers could quickly find out what features most teenagers use on from their
cellphones would be to go to a local mall and survey the teens they find.
• Researchers could analyze what brand of medications doctors prefer to prescribe to
people over sixty-five by visiting a doctors’ office and collecting data from willing
patients that fit the profile.

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 Judgmental Sampling

Judgmental sampling is a form of convenience sampling in which the population

elements are selected based on the judgment of the researcher.

– Test markets
– Purchase engineers selected in industrial marketing research
– Expert witnesses used in court

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 Judgmental Sampling

Example
In a study wherein a researcher wants to know what it takes to graduate in Sanskrit in
college, the only people who can give the researcher first hand advise are the
individuals who graduated in Sanskrit. With this very specific and very limited pool of
individuals, the researcher must use judgmental sampling

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 Snowball Sampling
In snowball sampling, an initial group of respondents is selected, usually at random.
– After being interviewed, these respondents are asked to identify others who
belong to the target population of interest.
– Subsequent respondents are selected based on the referrals.

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 Snowball Sampling

Example:
If obtaining subjects for a study that wants to observe a rare disease, the researcher may
opt to use snowball sampling since it will be difficult to obtain subjects. It is also
possible that the patients with the same disease have a support group; being able to
observe one of the members as your initial subject will then lead you to more subjects
for the study.

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 Quota Sampling
Quota sampling may be viewed as two-stage restricted judgmental sampling.
– The first stage consists of developing control categories, or quotas, of
population elements.
– In the second stage, sample elements are selected based on
convenience or
judgment.
Population Sample
composition composition
Control
Characteristic Percentage Percentage Number
Sex
Male 48 48 480
Female 52 52 520
____ ____ ____
100 100 1000

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 Quota Sampling

Example:
• In a study wherein the researcher likes to compare the academic performance of the
different high school class levels, its relationship with gender and socioeconomic
status, the researcher first identifies the subgroups.
• Usually, the subgroups are the characteristics or variables of the study. The
researcher divides the entire population into class levels, intersected with gender
and socioeconomic status. Then, he takes note of the proportions of these subgroups
in the entire population and then samples each subgroup accordingly.

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 Probability Sampling

• A probability sampling scheme is one in which every unit in the

population has a chance (greater than zero) of being selected in the sample,
and this probability can be accurately determined.

• When every element in the population does have the same probability of
selection, this is known as an 'equal probability of selection' (EPS) design.
Such designs are also referred to as 'self-weighting' because all sampled
units are given the same weight.

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 Probability Sampling

What you What you

want to talk Populatio actually
about n observe in
the data

Sampling Process
Sampling Sample
Frame

Inference

Using data to say something (make an inference) with confidence, about a whole (population) based on the
study
of a only a few (sample).
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 Probability Sampling

• It is also known as random sampling

• Each unit has a non-zero and known probability of selection
• Mathematical theory is available to assess the sampling error (the error caused
by observing a sample instead of the whole population).
• Probability sampling is designed to allow extrapolation from a small, highly
representative sample, to a larger population.
• This statistical inference allows us to describe a population.
• Used when you want to answer the “ where” and “ how many” questions.

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 Simple Random Sampling
 Simple Random Sampling
 the purest form of probability sampling.

 Assures each element in the population has an equal chance of being included in
the sample
 Random number generators

Sample Size
Probability of Selection =
Population Size

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 Simple Random Sampling

• Applicable when population is small, homogeneous & readily available

• All subsets of the frame are given an equal probability. Each element of the frame
thus has an equal probability of selection.
• It provides for greatest number of possible samples. This is done by assigning a
number to each unit in the sampling frame.
• A table of random number or lottery system is used to determine which units are to
be selected.

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 Simple Random Sampling
Procedure:

• Select a suitable sampling frame

• Each element is assigned a number from 1 to N (pop. size)

• Generate n (sample size) different random numbers between 1 and N

• The numbers generated denote the elements that should be included in the sample

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 Simple Random Sampling
Example:
• Small service agency.
• Client assessment of quality of service.
• Get list of clients over past year. List of clients
• Draw a simple random sample of n/N.

Random subsample

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