Course -5

Research Design and Sampling Method

Prof Dr. Aries Susanty ST MT

DESIGN
• Design, at a basic level, means planning. Generally some decisions are to be
taken before the actual action.
• The design is a plan to ensure that action achieves its objectives.
• It is the way to avoid wasteful expenditure of money, time and energy.
• Research design is the blueprint for research.
• The researcher records his decisions by using relevant symbols or concepts.
And these symbolic constructions are called research design.
• The process of data collection, sampling and analysis of the collected facts
are to be organized as per the basis of the design.
• Media research requires a comprehensive plan of action.
RESEARCH DESIGN DEFINED
• It is the skeleton for the research project.
• Research design basically provides an outline of how the
research will be carried out and the method will be
used .
• It includes the description of the research approaches, dependent
and independent variables, sampling design, and planning format for
data collection, analysis and presentation
Research design results from certain
decisions being taken. The decisions are:
• What is the study about?
• Why is the study being made?
• Where will the study be carried out?
• What type of data is required?
• Where can the required data be found?
• What periods of time will the study include?
• What will be the sample design?
• What techniques of data collection will be used?
• How will be the data analysed?
• In what style will the report be prepared?
• And how the research purpose can be achieved with minimum expenditure of money,
time and energy.
Research design can be split into four phases:
• The sampling design: It deals with the method of selecting items to be
observed for the given study;
• The observational design: It relates to the conditions under which
the observations are to be made;
• The statistical design: It deals with the question of how many subjects
are to be observed and how the observations are to be analyzed; and
• The operational design: It deals with the specific techniques by
which the procedures specified in the sampling, statistical and
observational designs can be carried out.
• Exploratory or
formulative studies
• Descriptive studies
• Diagnostic studies, and
• Experimental studies
TYPES OF RESEARCH DESIGNS
There are different research designs as per four research purposes:

• Exploratory or formulative studies

• Descriptive studies
• Diagnostic studies, and
• Experimental studies
Exploratory or formulative studies
• Exploratory design is conducted about a research problem when
there are few or no earlier studies to refer to or rely upon to
predict an outcome.
• The focus is on gaining insights and familiarity for later investigation
• Exploratory designs are often used to establish an understanding of
how best to proceed in studying an issue or what methodology would
effectively apply to gathering information about the issue.
DESCRIPTIVE STUDIES
• Descriptive research designs help provide answers to the
questions of who, what, when, where, and how associated
with a particular research problem; a descriptive study cannot
conclusively ascertain answers to why.
• Descriptive research is used to obtain information concerning the
current status of the phenomena and to describe "what exists"
with respect to variables or conditions in a situation.
EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES
• A blueprint of the procedure that enables the researcher to maintain
control over all factors that may affect the result of an experiment.
• The researcher attempts to determine or predict what may occur.
• Experimental research is often used where there is time priority and the
magnitude of the correlation is great.
• The classic experimental design specifies an experimental group and a control
group.
• Subsequent experimental designs have used more groups and more measurements
over longer periods.
• True experiments must have control, randomization, and manipulation.
Diagnostic Studies

• The researcher must be able to define clearly , what

he wants to measure and must find adequate methods for
measuring it along with a clear cut definition of Population he
wants to study.
• Exploratory or
formulative studies
• Descriptive studies
• Diagnostic studies, and
• Experimental studies
When doing a survey, the question
inevitably arises:

• how representative is the sample of

the whole population, in other words;
• how similar are characteristics of the
small group of cases that are chosen
for the survey to those of all of the
cases in the whole group?
Population in Research
• It does not necessarily mean a number of
people, it is a collective term used to
describe the total quantity of things (or
cases) of the type which are the subject
of your study.

• So a population can consist of certain

types of objects, organizations, people or
even events.
Important Statistical Terms
Population:
a set which includes all
measurements of interest
to the researcher
(The collection of all responses,
measurements, or counts
that are of interest)

Sample:
A subset of the population
Sampling
Sampling- a valid alternative to a
census when;
• Based on sampling you
can draw conclusions
which you can relate • A survey of the entire population is
impracticable
to the whole group If
• Budget constraints restrict data
the data you collect collection
really are the same as • Time constraints restrict data collection
you would get from
• Results from data collection are
the rest needed quickly
The Sampling Process
Define the Population

Develop Sampling Frame

Select a Sampling Method

Determine the Sample Size

Execute the Sampling Process

Target Population: The population to be studied/ to which the
investigator wants to generalize his results

Sampling Unit: smallest unit from which sample can be selected

Sampling Frame: List of all the sampling units from which sample
is drawn

Sampling Scheme: Method of selecting sampling units from sampling

frame
Sampling Frame
• Within this population,
there will probably be
only certain groups that
will be of interest to
your study, this
selected category is
your sampling frame.
Populations can have the following characteristics:

Characteristics Explains Examples

homogeneous all cases are similar bottles of beer on a production line

stratified contain strata or layers people with different levels of income: low,
medium, high
proportional contains strata of percentages of different nationalities of
stratified known proportions students in a university

grouped by type contains distinctive of apartment buildings – towers, slabs, villas,

groups tenement blocks
grouped by different groups animals in different habitats – desert,
location according to where equatorial forest, savannah, tundra
they are
Factors to Consider in Sample Design

Research objectives Degree of accuracy

Resources Time frame

Knowledge of
target population Research scope

Statistical analysis needs

Sampling techniques
 Probability sampling techniques give the most reliable
representation of the whole population.

 Non-probability techniques, relying on the judgment of the

researcher or on accident, cannot generally be used to make
generalizations about the whole population.
Probability Sampling
• It is a sampling technique in which sample from a larger population are chosen
using a method based on the theory of probability.
• For a participant to be considered as a probability sample, he/she must be
selected using a random selection.
• The most important requirement of probability sampling is that everyone in your
population has a known and an equal chance of getting selected.
• Probability sampling uses statistical theory to select randomly, a small
group of people (sample) from an existing large population and then predict that
all their responses together will match the overall population.
Types of Probability Sampling
Four main techniques used for a probability sample:
• Simple random
• Stratified random
• Cluster
• Systematic
Simple random sampling
• As the name suggests is a
completely random
method of selecting the
sample.
• This sampling method is as
easy as assigning numbers
to the individuals (sample)
and then randomly
choosing from those
numbers through an
automated process. Methods of selecting random sample:
1. Lottery Method
2. Tables of Random Numbers
Simple random sampling
Stratified Random sampling

• Involves a method where a larger

population can be divided into
smaller groups, that usually don’t
overlap but represent the entire
population together.
• While sampling these groups can
be organized and then draw a
sample from each group
separately.
• A common method is to arrange or
classify by sex, age, ethnicity and
similar ways.
Cluster random sampling
• It is a way to randomly select
participants when they are
geographically spread out.
• Cluster sampling usually analyzes a
particular population in which the
sample consists of more than a few
elements, for example, city, family,
university etc.
• The clusters are then selected by
dividing the greater population into
various smaller sections.
Systematic Sampling
• It is when you choose every “Kth”
individual to be a part of the sample.
• For example, you can choose every 3th
person to be in the sample.
• Systematic sampling is an extended
implementation of the same old
probability technique in which each
member of the group is selected at
regular periods to form a sample.
• There’s an equal opportunity for every
member of a population to be selected
using this sampling technique.
Types of Non-probability Sampling
Four main techniques used for a non-probability sample:
Convenience
Judgemental
Snowball
Quota
Convenience Sampling
• It is a non-probability sampling
technique used to create sample as
per ease of access, readiness to be a
part of the sample, availability at a
given time slot or any other practical
specifications of a particular
element.
• Convenience sampling involves
selecting haphazardly those cases
that are easiest to obtain for your
sample, such as the person
interviewed at random in a shopping
center for a television program.
Judgmental Sampling

• In the judgmental sampling, also called

purposive sampling, the sample members
are chosen only on the basis of the
researcher’s knowledge and judgment.
• It enables you to select cases that will best
enable you to answer your research
question(s) and to meet your objectives.
 Snowball Sampling
• Snowball sampling method is purely
based on referrals and that is how a
researcher is able to generate a
sample.
• Therefore this method is also called
the chain-referral sampling method.
• This sampling technique can go on
and on, just like a snowball increasing
in size (in this case the sample size) till
the time a researcher has enough data
to analyze, to draw conclusive results
that can help an organization make
informed decisions.
Quota Sampling
• Selection of members in this sampling
technique happens on basis of a pre-set
standard.
• In this case, as a sample is formed on
basis of specific attributes, the created
sample will have the same attributes
that are found in the total population. It
is an extremely quick method of
collecting samples.
• Quota sampling is therefore a type of
stratified sample in which selection of
cases within strata is entirely non-
random.
How Big a Sample Do You Need?
• Small sample size (less than the optimum sample size)
• May fail to detect a clinically important difference, or
• May estimate those effects or associations too imprecisely,
• Even the most rigorously executed study may fail to answer its research
question

• Very large sample size (more than the optimum size):

• Involve extra patients
• Costs more
• Difficult to maintain high data quality

NOT VERY SMALL AND NOT VERY LARGE

Practical issues in Determining Sample Sizes
• Importance of the Research Issue: If the results of the survey research
are very critical, then the sample size should be increased. As sample size
increases, the width of the confidence interval decreases.
• Heterogeneity of the population: If there is likely to be wide variations in
the results obtained from various respondents, the sample size should be
increased
• Funding: quite often, budgetary constraints limit the sample size for the
study
• Number of sub-groups to analyze: If multiple sub-groups in a population
are going to be analyzed, the sample size should be increased to ensure
that adequate numbers are obtained for each sub-group
Determining Sample Size
The things you need to know:
• Random Error: • Hypothesis Testing:
• Systematic Error: • Type I & II Error:
• Validity & Precision: • Power:
• Null Hypothesis: • Effect Size:
• Alternate Hypothesis: • Design Effect:
Random Error Systematic Error (Bias)
• It describes deviations that are not a
• It describes the role of chance, consequence of chance alone.
• Sources of random error include: • Several factors, including respondent
selection criteria, might contribute to
- sampling variability, it.
- subject to subject differences • These factors may not be amenable to
- measurement errors. measurement,
• It can be controlled and reduced to • Removed or reduced by good design
acceptably low levels by: and conduct of the experiment.
- Averaging, • A strong bias can yield an estimate
- Increasing the sample size & very far from the true value.
- Repeating the experiment
Validity and Precision

Fundamental concern: avoidance

Accuracy and/or control of error

Error = difference between true values
= lack of error and study results

Validity Precision
= lack or = lack of
control of random
systematic error
error
Calculation the Sample Size with Formula
Sample size

Quantitative Qualitative
Example
From a pilot study it was reported that p = 28%, q = 72%
among headache patients 28% had Z α/2 = 1.96 for α at 0.05
vascular headache. It was decided to e = 10% of 28% = 2.8
have 95% CI and 10% error in the
estimated 28%. How many patients are n = (1.96)2 * 0.28* 0,72
/(2.8/100)2 = 987.8---988
necessary to conduct the study.

In a Health survey of school children it is Mean = 10.2

Standard Deviation = 2.1
found that the mean hemoglobin level of Z α/2 = 1.96 for α at 0.05
55 boys is 10.2/100 ml with a standard e=d = 0.8
deviation of 2.1 and error is 0,08
n = (1.96)2 * 2.12/(0.8)2 =
How many samples need for level of 2647,10-----2648
confidence 95%