Inferential Statistics

Chapter No 1

Survey Sampling and Sampling

Distribution
 Inferential Statistics
In inferential statistics, it deals with techniques used for
analysis of data, making the estimates and drawing
conclusions from limited information taken on sample basis
and testing the reliability of the estimates.

For Example: Suppose we want to have an idea about the

percentage of illiterates in our country. We take a sample from
the population and find the proportion of illiterates in the
sample. This sample proportion with the help of probability
enables us to make some inferences/conclusion about the
population proportion. This study belongs to inferential
statistics.
Introduction

Sampling is a statistical technique which is used in every field in

order to collect information and on the basis of this information
inference about the characteristics of a population are made.

Statistical Population

A statistical population is defined as the aggregate of all individual

members or objects of some characteristics of interest. The
individual members of the population are called sampling units.

A sampling unit from which information is required may be a

college student, an animal, a family, a town, a small area, a
business firm etc.
A set of “n” sampling units selected from a given population is
called a sample of size “n” and the process of selecting a sample is
known as sampling.
Sampled population is that from which a sample is chosen,
whereas a population about which we wish to draw inference is
called target population.

Suppose we desire to know the opinions of the college students

in the province, then our population will consists of the total
number of students in all the colleges in the province. Due to
shortage of time, resources and cost we conducted the survey
from only five colleges scattered throughout the province.

Now in such case the target population consists of all the

students of all the colleges in the province, while on the other
hand, the sampled population consists of the students of five
colleges, from which the sample of the students will be selected.
Basic purpose of sampling
a) To provide sufficient information about the characteristic of a
population
b) To find the reliability of the estimates derived from the
sample

Advantages of Sampling
1. It saves money because its much cheaper to collect the desire
information from a small sample than from a whole population.
2. It saves a lot of time and energy as the needed data are
collected and processed much faster than census information.
3. Sampling provides information that is almost as accurate as
that obtained from a complete census.
4. Sampling is essential to obtain the data when the
measurement process physically damages or destroys the
sampling units under investigation.
5. Sampling may be the only means available for obtaining the
needed information when the population appears to be infinite.
Sample Design and Sample Survey

Sample design is a statistical plan concerned with all principal

steps taken in the selection of a sample and the estimation
procedure.
The term survey been defined as a means of collecting
information to meet a definite need. When a survey is carried
out by a sampling method, it is called sample survey.

Main steps in a sample survey are;

1. Clearly state the objectives of the survey.

2. Define the population we wish to study as clear as possible.
3. Choose an appropriate sample design and proper sample
size.
4. Organise a reliable field work to achieve the objective of the
survey.
5. Summarize and analyze the data.
WHAT IS THE APPROPRIATE SAMPLE

DESIGN?
1. DEGREE OF ACCURACY.

2. RESOURCES.

3. TIME.

4. ADVANCED KNOWLEDGE OF THE

POPULATION.

5. NATIONAL VERSUS INTERNATIONAL.

6. NEED FOR STATISTICAL ANALYSIS.

After the Sample Design is Selected

• Determine sample size

• Select actual sample units
• Conduct fieldwork
Sampling Frame

It is a complete list or a map that contains all the “N” sampling

units in a population. A complete list of all names of the
students in MIHE on May 15 is the frame. A list of all
households in a city, a map of a village showing all fields, etc.
are other examples of the frame.

Good sample frame requirements are;

1. Shouldn’t contain inaccurate sampling units

2. Should contain all units and should cover the whole
population
3. Be free from errors of omission and duplication of sampling
units
4. Up-to-date at the time of use
 Types of Samples Used

Samples

Non-Probability Probability Samples

Samples

Simple Stratified
Judgment Chunk Random

Quota Systematic Cluster

Convenience
 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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 NON PROBABILITY SAMPLING

 Any sampling method where some elements of population have no

chance of selection (these are sometimes referred to as 'out of
coverage'/'undercovered'), or where the probability of selection
can't be accurately determined. It involves the selection of
elements based on assumptions regarding the population of
interest, which forms the criteria for selection. Hence, because
the selection of elements is nonrandom, nonprobability sampling
not allows the estimation of sampling errors..

 Example: We visit every household in a given street, and

interview the first person to answer the door. In any household
with more than one occupant, this is a nonprobability sample,
because some people are more likely to answer the door (e.g. an
unemployed person who spends most of their time at home is
more likely to answer than an employed housemate who might be
at work when the interviewer calls) and it's not practical to
calculate these probabilities.
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Simple Random Sample

In a simple random sample (SRS) of a given size, all such

subsets of the frame are given an equal probability. Each
element of the frame thus has an equal probability of selection:
the frame is not subdivided or partitioned.

Systematic Sampling

It relies on arranging the study population according to some

ordering scheme and then selecting elements at regular
intervals through that ordered list.
 SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING……

• ADVANTAGES:
• Sample easy to select
• Suitable sampling frame can be identified
easily
• Sample evenly spread over entire reference
population
• DISADVANTAGES:
• Sample may be biased if hidden periodicity in
population coincides with that of selection.
• Difficult to assess precision of estimate from
one survey.
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 Stratified Random Sampling
List of clients

African-American Hispanic-American Others

Strata
Cluster Sampling

Sometimes it is more cost-effective to select respondents in

groups ('clusters'). Sampling is often clustered by geography,
or by time periods.

For instance, if surveying households within a city, we might

choose to select 100 city blocks and then interview every
household within the selected blocks.
 CLUSTER SAMPLING…….
• Advantages :
• Cuts down on the cost of preparing a sampling frame.
• This can reduce travel and other administrative
costs.
• Disadvantages: sampling error is higher for a simple
random sample of same size.
• Often used to evaluate vaccination coverage in EPI

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 CLUSTER SAMPLING…….
• Identification of clusters
– List all cities, towns, villages & wards of cities with
their population falling in target area under study.
– Calculate cumulative population & divide by 30, this
gives sampling interval.
– Select a random no. less than or equal to sampling
interval having same no. of digits. This forms 1st
cluster.
– Random no.+ sampling interval = population of 2nd
cluster.
– Second cluster + sampling interval = 4th cluster.
– Last or 30th cluster = 29th cluster + sampling interval
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Convenient Sampling
Selecting easily accessible participants with no
randomization.
For example, asking people who live in your residence to
take a survey for your project.

Quota Sampling

Selecting participant in numbers proportionate to their

numbers in the larger population, no randomization.
For example you include exactly 50 males and 50 females in
a sample of 100.
Judgment Sampling

Selecting participants because they have certain predetermined

characteristics, no randomization.
For example, you want to be sure include African, Americans,
Euro Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans in relatively
equal numbers.

Chunk Sampling

Selecting participants by finding one or two participants

and then asking them to refer you to others.
For example, meeting a homeless person, interviewing that
person, and then asking him/her to introduce you to other
homeless people you might interview.
Sample with replacement

Sampling is said to be with replacement when a sampling unit

is drawn from a finite population, observed and then returned

to the population before another unit is drawn. The population

in this case remains the same and a sampling unit might be

selected more than once.

Sampling without replacement

When a sampling unit is chosen and not return to the

population after it has been observed, the sampling is said to be

without replacement.

Sampling error

The difference between the value of the sample statistic and the

true value of the corresponding population parameter. Such

difference is called sampling error.

For Example, is the mean obtained from a sample of size n

and is the corresponding population parameter, then the

difference between and is the sampling error.

Sampling error = -

Non-sampling error includes the following;

All kinds of human error, faulty sample frame, errors of

observation, non-response to mail questionnaires, editing error,

misclassification of observation and the like.

Example1: A population consists of 5 students and the marks obtained by them in
certain statistics paper are 20, 15, 12, 16 and 18. Draw all possible random sample of
two students when sampling is performed 1) without replacement 2) with
replacement and also calculate the mean marks for each sample.
Solution: 1) Sampling without replacement
S.No Sample Students Sample Marks (, ) Sample Mean ()
1 A,B 20,15 17.5
2 A,C 20,12 16
3 A,D 20,16 18
4 A,E 20,18 19
5 B,C 15,12 13.5
6 B,D 15,16 15.5
7 B,E 15,18 16.5
8 C,D 12,16 14
9 C,E 12,18 15
10 D,E 16,18 17
2) Sampling with replacement
S.No Sample Students Sample Marks Sample Mean
1 A,A 20,20 20
2 A,B 20,15 17.5
3 A,C 20,12 16
4 A,D 20,16 18
5 A,E 20,18 19
6 B,A 15,20 17.5
7 B,B 15,15 15
8 B,C 15,12 13.5
9 B,D 15,16 15.5
10 B,E 15,18 16.5
11 C,A 12,20 16
12 C,B 12,15 13.5
13 C,C 12,12 12
14 C,D 12,16 14
15 C,E 12,18 15
16 D,A 16,20 18
17 D,B 16,15 15.5
18 D,C 16,12 14
19 D,D 16,16 16
20 D,E 16,18 17
21 E,A 18,20 19
22 E,B 18,15 16.5
23 E,C 18,12 15
24 E,D 18,16 17
25 E,E 18,18 18
Example 2: Assume that a population consists of 7 similar containers having the given
weights (kg): 9.8, 10.2, 10.4, 9.8, 10, 10.2 and 9.6.
a) Find the mean and the standard deviation “σ” of the population
b) Draw random samples of 2 containers without replacement and calculate the mean
weight of each sample
c) Form a frequency distribution of sampling distribution of

Solution:
a)
= = = 10 kg

σ==
= = = 0.262 kg
 S.No Sample Combination Weights in Samples Sample Mean Weight
b)
1 A,B 9.8,10.2 10
2 A,C 9.8,10.4 10.1
3 A,D 9.8,9.8 9.8
4 A,E 9.8,10 9.9
5 A,F 9.8,10.2 10
6 A,G 9.8,9.6 9.7
7 B,C 10.2,10.4 10.3
8 B,D 10.2,9.8 10
9 B,E 10.2,10 10.1
10 B,F 10.2,10.2 10.2
11 B,G 10.2,9.6 9.9
12 C,D 10.4,9.8 10.1
13 C,E 10.4,10 10.2
14 C,F 10.4,10.2 10.3
15 C,G 10.4,9.6 10
16 D,E 9.8,10 9.9
17 D,F 9.8,10.2 10
18 D,G 9.8,9.6 9.7
19 E,F 10,10.2 10.1
20 E,G 10,9.6 9.8
21 F,G 10.2,9.6 9.9
Sample Sample Probability
Tally f
Mean () Mean () f()
9.7 II 2 9.7 2/21

9.8 II 2 9.8 2/21

9.9 IIII 4 9.9 4/21

10 IIII 5 10 5/21

10.1 IIII 4 10.1 4/21

10.2 II 2 10.2 2/21

10.3 II 2 10.3 2/21

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