Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Schools Division of Cebu Province
DAANBANTAYAN DISTRICT 1
DAANBANTAYAN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

Sampling Procedure in Quantitative Research

Learning Objectives:
After going through this lesson, you are expected to:
a. define sample, population, sample size, and sampling frame;
b. calculate sample size using Slovin’s formula; and
c. design a sampling plan based on a hypothetical population.

LESSON
In qualitative research, the researcher has full control of the number of participants needed for his/her study to obtain enough data
to sufficiently describe the phenomenon of interest and address the research question. But unlike qualitative research, quantitative
research focuses more on the accurate number of sample size. This lesson will help you understand how to determine sample
size using the Slovin’s formula.
Before you proceed to this lesson, take note of the following terms first:
• Sample. It refers to an individual that represents the entire population of target respondents of the study. This is the subgroup of
the population
• Population. It refers to a group of individuals that the researcher is interested in studying and usually has common or similar
characteristics.
• Sample size. It refers to the number of elements in the population that is included in the study.
• Sampling frame. It refers to a complete list of all cases in the population from which the sample will be drawn (e.g. master list of
Grade 12 students in a certain school).

Reason of using Sample in Research

The researchers must know the sample size of their study. It is a waste of resources if the researchers include all the elements in
their target population. According to Prieto, Naval and Carey (2017), the following are some reasons for the use of samples:
• Using sample saves time compared to complete census.
• Using sample saves money because it is less costly.
• Using sample allows more particular attention to be given to several elements than doing a census.
• Using sample can lessen the sampling error in the survey.

Sampling Strategy in Quantitative Research

Sampling strategy is an important step to ensure that your data truly reflects the characteristics of your target population.
Mukherjee (2019) cites steps in formulating sampling plan in quantitative research.
1. Define your sample and target population.
Most of the time, it is hard to survey all elements of your target population, so you may come up with a smaller
number that may represent your target population. For example, it may not be feasible to visit all 10,000 students in your
 target school. Instead, you’d want to choose a smaller sample that would be representative of the population and reflect
its characteristics.
2. Define your sample size.
There are no strict rules for selecting a sample size. You can decide based on the objectives of the project, time
available, and budget. In order to come up with accurate sample size, you will need to determine the degree of accuracy
that you want to achieve. For this, you’ll need to establish the confidence interval (margin of error) and confidence level
of your sample. The confidence level tells you how sure you want to be and is expressed as a percentage. It represents
how often the responses from your selected sample reflect the responses of the total population. Thus, a 95% confidence
level means you can be 95% certain. The lower the confidence level, the less certain you will be. There are many formulas
used in computing your sample size. And one of those is the Slovin’s formula.
3. Define your sampling technique.
There are two sampling techniques you’ll use to select sample from your target population.
The sampling technique that’s right for you depends on the nature and objectives of your project. Sampling
techniques is divided into two types:
a. probability sampling (random sampling) which gives equal chances of selection to all elements of the
population; and
b. non-probability sampling (non-random sampling) is an unequal selection of samples from the population.

Slovin’s Formula
Solving for an accurate sample size needs a deep understanding of statistics. There are a lot of formulas used
in determining the sample size of quantitative research. One of the most common statistical formulas used by researchers in
determining sample size is Slovin’s formula.
Slovin’s formula is a statistical formula used to obtain an accurate sample size (n) given the population (N) and
margin of error (e). The margin of error (e) is the allowable error margin in research. Slovin's Formula calculates the number of
samples required when the population is too large to directly sample every member. The sample size can be obtained using the
formula:

𝑵
𝒏=
𝟏 + 𝑵𝒆𝟐
Where: n = sample size
N = total population
e = margin of error
Example 1.
Mr. X conducts his study on Brgy. Poblacion, Daanbantayan. The total number of residences is 3,800 according to the residence
list in barangay. Mr. X uses a five percent margin of error to come up with the total number of participants of his study which is
362.
• The population is 3,800.
• The sampling frame used is the residence list in barangay Poblacion.
• The sample size obtained is 362 using Slovin’s formula with five percent margin of error.
Example 2:
A researcher wants to conduct a survey. The population of a big school where the researcher wishes to get his respondents is
11,000. Find the sample size if the margin of error is 5%.
Step 1. Identify the givens:
n=? N = 11,000 e = 5% need to convert into 0.05
Step 2. Using the Slovin’s formula, substitute the given data.
 𝟏𝟏, 𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝒏=
𝟏 + (𝟏𝟏, 𝟎𝟎𝟎)(𝟎. 𝟎𝟓)𝟐
Step 3. Solve the denominator part first. Follow PEMDAS.
𝟏𝟏,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝟏𝟏,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝟏𝟏,𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝒏 = 𝟏+(𝟏𝟏,𝟎𝟎𝟎)(𝟎.𝟎𝟎𝟐𝟓) 𝒏 = 𝟏+𝟐𝟕.𝟓 𝒏= 𝟐𝟖.𝟓

Step 4. Divide the data to get the sample size.

𝟏𝟏,𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝒏= n= 385.96 rounded up to 386
𝟐𝟖.𝟓

Then the sample size that the researchers need is 386. Take note that if your final answer is in decimal form,
always rounded up to whole number.
Example 3:
In your study, the size of the population is 10,000. What is the size of your sample if you allow a 2% margin of error?
Step 1. Identify the givens:
n=? N = 10,000 e = 2% need to convert into 0.02
Step 2. Using the Slovin’s formula, substitute the given data.
𝟏𝟎, 𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝒏=
𝟏 + (𝟏𝟎, 𝟎𝟎𝟎)(𝟎. 𝟎𝟐)𝟐
Step 3. Solve the denominator part first. Follow PEMDAS.
𝟏𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝟏𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝟏𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝒏 = 𝟏+(𝟏𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎)(𝟎.𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟒) 𝒏= 𝒏=
𝟏+𝟒 𝟓

Step 4. Divide the data to get the sample size.

𝟏𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝒏= n=2,000
𝟓

Then the sample size that you need is 2,000.

The table below could help you on deciding the sample size in a specific number of population and margin of error as
cited by Sevilla (Colombo Plan Staff College 2018).
Table 1. Sample Size for Specified Margin of Errors
ACTIVITIES

A. Solve for the sample size of given problem using Slovin’s formula. Show your complete solution.
1. In your study, the size of your population is 27,150. What is the size of your sample if you allow a 5% margin of error?
2. In your research, your population is 20,000 and the margin of error you allow is 5%, what is your representative sample
size?
3. Supposedly, you want to conduct research in a certain community with a population of 8,130. What would be your sample
size if you used a 0.01 margin of error?

B. Supply the words that will complete the thoughts of the paragraph. Choose your answer in the box below.

It is important that the researchers know the (1)_________________ of their study. It is a waste of resources if the
researchers include all the (2) ______________ in their target (3)_________________. Using (4)______________ saves
(5)___________ compared to complete (6)_____________. It also saves money because it is less (7)____________. It
allows more particular attention to be given to a number of elements than doing a census thus less sampling
(8)__________ in survey. In order to have an accurate sample size, (9)________________ was used.

C. Read and analyze the following statements. Choose the letter and the phrase/word.
1. What do you call a complete list of all cases in the population from which the sample will be drawn?
A. Population C. Sampling frame
B. Sample D. Sampling Techniques
2. What is the purpose of confidence level in research?
A. To know how confident the researcher her chosen samples
B. To determine the range of which the likelihood of response occurs
C. To know the level of mistakes that the researcher could commit in his/her study
D. To determine how sure the researcher that the response of the selected sample would represent the total population
3. Which of the following statements is true about the determination of samples in quantitative research?
A. The sample size must be statistically accurate.
B. Sample size depends on the researcher’s decision.
C. Sample size needs to cover all elements in the population.
D. The sample size must not exceed 100 participants regardless of population size.
4. A researcher conducted his study in three selected private schools in Cebu City. The total number of employees in the
three schools is 850. The researcher decided to use Slovin’s formula and use a 5% margin of error. What would be the
sample size that the researcher could come up with?
A. 200 C. 272
B. 257 D. 350
5. Suppose that you have a group of 3,210 target students for your research study and you want to survey them to find
out how mobile games affect their class performance. Find the sample size of your target respondents using 0.03 margin
of error?
A. 823.70 C. 824.40
B. 824.00 D. 826.00