 Home »

 Math

Slovin's Formula Sampling

Techniques
By Stephanie Ellen; Updated April 24, 2017
When it is not possible to study an entire population (such as the population of
the United States), a smaller sample is taken using a random sampling
technique. Slovin's formula allows a researcher to sample the population with
a desired degree of accuracy. It gives the researcher an idea of how large his
sample size needs to be to ensure a reasonable accuracy of results.

WHEN TO USE SLOVIN'S FORMULA

If a sample is taken from a population, a formula must be used to take into
account confidence levels and margins of error. When taking statistical
samples, sometimes a lot is known about a population, sometimes a little and
sometimes nothing at all. For example, we may know that a population is
normally distributed (e.g., for heights, weights or IQs), we may know that there
is a bimodal distribution (as often happens with class grades in mathematics
classes) or we may have no idea about how a population is going to behave
(such as polling college students to get their opinions about quality of student
life). Slovin’s formula is used when nothing about the behavior of a population
is known at all.

HOW TO USE SLOVIN'S FORMULA

Slovin's formula is written as:

n = N / (1 + Ne^2)

n = Number of samples N = Total population e = Error tolerance

To use the formula, first figure out what you want your error of tolerance to be.
For example, you may be happy with a confidence level of 95 percent (giving
a margin error of 0.05), or you may require a tighter accuracy of a 98 percent
confidence level (a margin of error of 0.02). Plug your population size and
required margin of error into the formula. The result will be the number of
samples you need to take.

For example, suppose that you have a group of 1,000 city government
employees and you want to survey them to find out which tools are best suited
to their jobs. You decide that you are happy with a margin of error of 0.05.
Using Slovin’s formula, you would be required to survey n = N / (1 + Ne^2)
people:

1,000 / (1 + 1000 * 0.05 * 0.05) = 286

Ads by Revcontent

You May Like

Millionaire Mom from Local Area Earns $645/hr from Home, Tells All Her
Trick
Work At Home Center

Anyone Can Get Rich Just by Doing This

The Tesler Code

7 Top European Countries That Offer Free College Education

Yorkfeed

References
 Principles and Methods of Research; Ariola et al. (eds.); 2006

About the Author

 Stephanie Ellen teaches mathematics and statistics at the university and college level.
She coauthored a statistics textbook published by Houghton-Mifflin. She has been
writing professionally since 2008. Ellen holds a Bachelor of Science in health science
from State University New York, a master's degree in math education from Jacksonville
University and a Master of Arts in creative writing from National University.
More Articles
 The Disadvantages of a Small Sample Size
 How to Determine Sample Size
 The Advantages of a Large Sample Size
 How to Interpret an Independent T Test in SPSS
 How to Calculate Sample Size Formula
 How to Calculate P-hat

Related Searches
 Sampling Technique

 Percentage Formula

 Error Formula

 Formula Math

 Cluster Sampling

 Sampling Method

Related Content


The Effects of a Small Sample Size Limitation

Importance of Sample Size in Research



How to Report a Sample Size

Characteristics of a Good Sample Size

How to Calculate a Sample Size Population

What Is the Meaning of Sample Size?

How Do I Determine My Audit Sample Size?

How to Calculate Statistical Sample Sizes

Copyright 2017 Leaf Group Ltd. All Rights Reserved. // Leaf Group Education
AdChoices
 


 About Us
 Terms of Use
 Privacy Policy
 Copyright Policy