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Sampling

The document outlines key concepts in sampling, including definitions of population, element, sample, and sampling unit. It details the sampling process, which involves defining the population, determining the sample frame, and selecting the sampling design and size, while also addressing issues of precision and confidence in estimates. Additionally, it discusses the trade-off between confidence and precision in determining sample size and the importance of normal distribution in sampling.

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Rajdip Sinha
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12 views15 pages

Sampling

The document outlines key concepts in sampling, including definitions of population, element, sample, and sampling unit. It details the sampling process, which involves defining the population, determining the sample frame, and selecting the sampling design and size, while also addressing issues of precision and confidence in estimates. Additionally, it discusses the trade-off between confidence and precision in determining sample size and the importance of normal distribution in sampling.

Uploaded by

Rajdip Sinha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Sampling

TMSL
Prof. Sweta
Population
• The population refers to the entire group of people, events, or things of interest for
investigation.
• It is the group of people, events, or things of interest for which the researcher wants to
make inferences
Element
• An element is a single member of the population.

Sample
• A sample is a subset of the population.
• It comprises some members selected from it.
• In other words, some, but not all, elements of the population forms the sample.

Sampling Unit
• The sampling unit is the element or set of elements available for selection at some stage of
the sampling process.
• Examples of sampling units are city blocks, households, and individuals within the
households
Population and Sample
• When we sample, the sampling units (employees, consumers, etc.) provide responses
• For instance, a consumer responding to a survey question may give a response of “3”
• When we examine the responses that we get for our entire sample, we make use of statistics
• There is a wide variety of statistics we can use, such as the mean, the median, or the mode
• The reason we sample, however, is that we are interested in the characteristics of the
population we sample from
• If we study the entire population and calculate the mean or the standard deviation, then we
don’t refer to this as a statistic. Instead, we call it a parameter of the population.
Population and Sample
• The characteristics of the population such as μ (the population mean), σ (the population
standard deviation), and σ2 (the population variance) are referred to as its parameters
• The central tendencies, the dispersions, and other statistics in the sample of interest to the
research are treated as approximations of the central tendencies, dispersions, and other
parameters of the population
• As such, all conclusions about the sample under study are generalized to the population
• In other words, the sample statistics – X (the sample mean), S (the standard deviation), and
S2 (the variation in the sample) – are used as estimates of the population parameters

Statistics Symbols
Statistics Population Sample
Mean = μ X

Variance σ² S²
Standard Deviation σ S
Normality of Distributions
• Attributes or characteristics of the population are generally normally distributed.

• If it is needed to estimate the population characteristics from those represented


in a sample with reasonable accuracy, the sample has to be chosen in such a way
so that the distribution of the characteristics of interest follows the same pattern
of normal distribution in the sample as it does in the population

• As the sample size n increases, the means of the random samples taken from
practically any population approach a normal distribution
Sampling Process
• Sampling is the process of selecting a sufficient number of the right
elements from the population

• It helps in understanding the properties or characteristics of the sample


and thus makes it possible to generalize such properties or characteristics
to the population

• The major steps in sampling include:


1. Define the population
2. Determine the sample frame
3. Determine the sampling design
4. Determine the appropriate sample size
5. Execute the sampling process
1) Defining the population
• Sampling begins with precisely defining the target population.
• The target population must be defined in terms of elements, geographical
boundaries, and time.

2) Determining the sample frame


• The sampling frame is a (physical) representation of all the elements in the
population from which the sample is drawn.
• Although the sampling frame is useful in listing each element in the population, it
may not always be a current, up-to-date document.
• For instance, the names of members who have recently left the organization may
appear in the employee list.
3) Determining the sampling design
• There are two major types of sampling design: probability and nonprobability
sampling
• Depending on the extent of generalizability desired, the demands of time and other
resources, and the purpose of the study, different types of probability and
nonprobability sampling designs are chosen.
• The following points should be considered while determining the choice of
sampling design:
› What is the relevant target population of focus to the study?
› What exactly are the parameters we are interested in investigating?
› What kind of a sampling frame is available?
› What costs are attached to the sampling design?
› How much time is available to collect the data from the sample?
4) Determining the sample size
• The factors affecting decisions on sample size are as:
1. The research objective
2. The extent of precision desired (the confidence interval)
3. The acceptable risk in predicting that level of precision (confidence level)
4. The amount of variability in the population itself
5. The cost and time constraints
6. In some cases, the size of the population itself

5) Executing the sampling process


• A failure to obtain information from a number of subjects included in the sample
(nonresponse) may lead to nonresponse error.
• Nonresponse error exists to the extent that those who responded to the survey differ
from those who did not on (one of the) characteristics of interest in the study.
Issues Of Precision And Confidence In Determining Sample
Size
• Precision refers to how close our estimate is to the true population characteristic.
• Precision is a function of the range of variability in the sampling distribution of the sample
mean.
• If we take a number of different samples from a population and take the mean of each of
these, we will usually find that they are all different, are normally distributed, and have a
dispersion associated with them.

• The standard error is calculated by:

where S is the standard deviation of the sample, n is the sample size

• To reduce the standard error, we need to increase the sample size.


• The smaller the variation in the population, the smaller the standard error.
• Confidence denotes how certain we are that our estimates will hold true for the population
• Confidence reflects the level of certainty with which we can state that our estimates of the population
parameters, based on our sample statistics, will hold true.

• The level of confidence can range from 0 to 100%

• A 95% confidence is the conventionally accepted level for most business research, most commonly
expressed by denoting the significance level as p ≤ 0.05.

• In other words, we say that at least 95 times out of 100, our estimate will reflect the true population
characteristic.

• For a 90% confidence level, the K value is 1.645.


• For a 95% confidence level, the K value is 1.96.
• For a 99% confidence level, the K value is 2.576.
Trade-Off Between Confidence and Precision
• We have noted that if we want more precision, or more confidence, or
both, the sample size needs to be increased – unless, of course, there is
very little variability in the population itself.

• However, if the sample size (n) cannot be increased, for whatever reason –
say, we cannot afford the costs of increased sampling – then, with the same
n, the only way to maintain the same level of precision is to forsake the
confidence with which we can predict our estimates.

• That is, we reduce the confidence level or the certainty of our estimate.

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