SAMPLING TECHNIQUES &

METHODS

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 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Learn the reasons for sampling

Develop an understanding about different

sampling methods

Distinguish between probability & non probability

sampling

Discuss the relative advantages & disadvantages

of each sampling methods

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 What is research?
• “Scientific research is systematic, controlled,
empirical, and critical investigation of natural
phenomena guided by theory and hypotheses
about the presumed relations among such
phenomena.”
– Kerlinger, 1986

• Research is an organized and systematic way of

finding answers to questions

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Important Components of Research

Problem statement, research questions, purposes,

benefits
Theory, assumptions, background literature
Variables and hypotheses
Operational definitions and measurement
Research design and methodology
Instrumentation, sampling
Data analysis
Conclusions, interpretations, recommendations

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 SAMPLING……
What is your population of interest?
To whom do you want to generalize your
results?
All doctors
School children
Indians
Women aged 15-45 years
Other
Can you sample the entire population?

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SAMPLING…….

3 factors that influence sample representative-

ness
 Sampling procedure
 Sample size
 Participation (response)

When might you sample the entire population?

 When your population is very small
 When you have extensive resources
 When you don’t expect a very high response

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SAMPLING BREAKDOWN
 SAMPLING…….

STUDY POPULATION

SAMPLE

TARGET POPULATION

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 Types of Samples

Probability (Random) Samples

 Simple random sample
Systematic random sample
Stratified random sample
Multistage sample
Cluster sample
Non-Probability Samples

Convenience sample . Snowball Sampling
Purposive sample
Quota

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 Process
The sampling process comprises several
stages:
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 or events from the frame
Determining the sample size
Implementing the sampling plan
Sampling and data collecting
Reviewing the sampling process

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 Population definition
A population can be defined as including
all people or items with the characteristic
one wishes to understand.
 Because there is very rarely enough time
or money to gather information from
everyone or everything in a population,
the goal becomes finding a
representative sample (or subset) of that
population.

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 Population definition…….
Note also that the population from which the
sample is drawn may not be the same as the
population about which we actually want
information. Often there is large but not
complete overlap between these two groups due
to frame issues etc .
Sometimes they may be entirely separate - for
instance, we might study rats in order to get a
better understanding of human health, or we
might study records from people born in 2008 in
order to make predictions about people born in
2009.
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 SAMPLING FRAME
 In the most straightforward case, such as the
sentencing of a batch of material from
production (acceptance sampling by lots), it is
possible to identify and measure every single
item in the population and to include any one of
them in our sample. However, in the more
general case this is not possible. There is no way
to identify all rats in the set of all rats. Where
voting is not compulsory, there is no way to
identify which people will actually vote at a
forthcoming election (in advance of the election)
 As a remedy, we seek a sampling frame which
has the property that we can identify every
single element and include any in our sample .
 The sampling frame must be representative of
the population
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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…….

Probability sampling includes:

Simple Random Sampling,
Systematic Sampling,
Stratified Random Sampling,
Cluster Sampling
Multistage Sampling.
Multiphase sampling

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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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 NONPROBABILITY SAMPLING…….
• Nonprobability Sampling includes:
Convenience Sampling, Quota Sampling
and Purposive Sampling. In addition,
nonresponse effects may turn any
probability design into a nonprobability
design if the characteristics of nonresponse
are not well understood, since nonresponse
effectively modifies each element's
probability of being sampled.

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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……..
 Estimates are easy to calculate.
 Simple random sampling is always an EPS design, but not
all EPS designs are simple random sampling.

 Disadvantages
 If sampling frame large, this method impracticable.
 Minority subgroups of interest in population may not be
present in sample in sufficient numbers for study.

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REPLACEMENT OF SELECTED UNITS

Sampling schemes may be without replacement

('WOR' - no element can be selected more than
once in the same sample) or with replacement
('WR' - an element may appear multiple times in
the one sample).
For example, if we catch fish, measure them, and
immediately return them to the water before
continuing with the sample, this is a WR design,
because we might end up catching and
measuring the same fish more than once.
However, if we do not return the fish to the water
(e.g. if we eat the fish), this becomes a WOR
20 design.
 SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING
 Systematic sampling relies on arranging the
target population according to some ordering
scheme and then selecting elements at regular
intervals through that ordered list.
 Systematic sampling involves a random start and
then proceeds with the selection of every kth
element from then onwards. In this case,
k=(population size/sample size).
 It is important that the starting point is not
automatically the first in the list, but is instead
randomly chosen from within the first to the kth
element in the list.
 A simple example would be to select every 10th
name from the telephone directory (an 'every 10th'
sample, also referred to as 'sampling with a skip of
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10').
 SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING……
As described above, systematic sampling is an EPS method,
because all elements have the same probability of selection (in
the example given, one in ten). It is not 'simple random
sampling' because different subsets of the same size have
different selection probabilities - e.g. the set {4,14,24,...,994}
has a one-in-ten probability of selection, but the set
{4,13,24,34,...} has zero probability of selection.

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 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 SAMPLING
Where population embraces a number of distinct
categories, the frame can be organized into
separate "strata." Each stratum is then sampled
as an independent sub-population, out of which
individual elements can be randomly selected.
Every unit in a stratum has same chance of being
selected.
Using same sampling fraction for all strata ensures
proportionate representation in the sample.
Adequate representation of minority subgroups of
interest can be ensured by stratification & varying
sampling fraction between strata as required.

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 STRATIFIED SAMPLING……
Finally, since each stratum is treated as an
independent population, different sampling
approaches can be applied to different strata.

Drawbacks to using stratified sampling.

 First, sampling frame of entire population has
to be prepared separately for each stratum
Second, when examining multiple criteria,
stratifying variables may be related to some,
but not to others, further complicating the
design, and potentially reducing the utility of
the strata.
 Finally, in some cases (such as designs with a
large number of strata, or those with a
specified minimum sample size per group),
stratified sampling can potentially require a
25 larger sample than would other methods
 CLUSTER SAMPLING
Cluster sampling is an example of 'two-stage
sampling' .
 First stage a sample of areas is chosen;
 Second stage a sample of respondents within
those areas is selected.
 Population divided into clusters of
homogeneous units, usually based on
geographical contiguity.
Sampling units are groups rather than
individuals.
A sample of such clusters is then selected.
All units from the selected clusters are studied.
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 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.

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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 2 nd
cluster.
– Second cluster + sampling interval = 4th cluster.
– Last or 30th cluster = 29th cluster + sampling
interval

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 CLUSTER SAMPLING…….
Two types of cluster sampling methods.
One-stage sampling. All of the elements
within selected clusters are included in the
sample.
Two-stage sampling. A subset of elements
within selected clusters are randomly
selected for inclusion in the sample.

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Difference Between Strata and
Clusters
Although strata and clusters are both non-
overlapping subsets of the population, they
differ in several ways.
All strata are represented in the sample; but
only a subset of clusters are in the sample.
With stratified sampling, the best survey
results occur when elements within strata are
internally homogeneous. However, with
cluster sampling, the best results occur when
elements within clusters are internally
heterogeneous

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 QUOTA SAMPLING
 The population is first segmented into mutually
exclusive sub-groups, just as in stratified sampling.
 Then judgment used to select subjects or units from
each segment based on a specified proportion.
 For example, an interviewer may be told to sample 200
females and 300 males between the age of 45 and 60.
 It is this second step which makes the technique one of
non-probability sampling.
 In quota sampling the selection of the sample is non-
random.
 For example interviewers might be tempted to
interview those who look most helpful. The problem is
that these samples may be biased because not
everyone gets a chance of selection. This random
element is its greatest weakness and quota versus
probability has been a matter of controversy for many
31 years
 CONVENIENCE SAMPLING
 Sometimes known as grab or opportunity sampling or
accidental or haphazard sampling.
 A type of nonprobability sampling which involves the sample
being drawn from that part of the population which is close to
hand. That is, readily available and convenient.
 The researcher using such a sample cannot scientifically
make generalizations about the total population from this
sample because it would not be representative enough.
 For example, if the interviewer was to conduct a survey at a
shopping center early in the morning on a given day, the
people that he/she could interview would be limited to those
given there at that given time, which would not represent the
views of other members of society in such an area, if the
survey was to be conducted at different times of day and
several times per week.
 This type of sampling is most useful for pilot testing.
 In social science research, snowball sampling is a similar
technique, where existing study subjects are used to recruit
more subjects into the sample.
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CONVENIENCE SAMPLING…….

 Use results that are easy to get

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 Judgmental sampling or
Purposive sampling
- The researcher chooses the sample based
on who they think would be appropriate for
the study. This is used primarily when there
is a limited number of people that have
expertise in the area being researched

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 Questions???

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