Sampling Techniques

By
Khalid Sarwar Qureshi

Road Map
What

is Statistics?
Sample & Population
Why sampling?
Types of sampling
Sampling errors
Main methods of sampling
Sample size calculation

Statistics is a collection of tools

used for converting raw data into
useful information to help decision
makers in their works.

Statistics
Collection
Analysis
Presentation

Descriptive and
Inferential Statistics
Inferential Statistics Uses Sample
Data to Make an Inference About a
Population .
Descriptive Statistics Is Devoted to
the Summarization and Description of
Data (Population or Sample) .

Data &Types of Data

DATA - Set of useful Information
Primary

Data
Secondary Data

COLLECTION OF PRIMARY DATA

1. DIRECT/ INDIRECT PERSONAL INVESTIGATION
2. QUESTIONAIRES
COLLECTION
OF SECONDARY
3. ENUMERATORS

DATA
1. OFFICAL
2. SEMI-OFFICAL

DATA SOURCES
OBSERVATIONS
EXPERIMENTS
PRINTED
MATERIALS
ELECTRONIC
MEDIA

Primary Data Collection

Methods
Observational

Methods
Survey Method
Experimental Methods
Case Study Methods

Basic steps in Survey Method

Objective

of Survey
Research Methodology
Preparation of Questionnaire
Decide Sampling Method
Field plan training of field worker
Locates sampling units
Conclusion
Back

Observational Methods
Participant

Observation
Living with in the group as a part

Non-

Observation
Living with in the group as an
observer
Back

Tips on question order

Early

questions should be about research

age, social background, income
questions for later
Ask your most important questions first
Potentially embarrassing/controversial
questions should come later
In a long interview, group questions into
categories (i.e. politics, media, questions
about yourself)
General questions should come before
specific ones

Tips on question formation

Must inform either dependent or
independent variable
Research existing questions/data sets in
area to either add to this data or to try
something new
Must be unambiguous
Must have logical sequence
Be ready to discard bad questions or be
surprised
Beware of how concepts travel to different
cultures/groups/age ranges etc.

Interview-Recording the facts

Personal

Interviews
Mail Interviews

Depth Interview
Individual
Focus

Group

The interview paradox

Closed-end

questions and interviews

will provide more discrete, finite data
Open-ended questions and
interviews could provide for insights
and ideas you had not yet considered
Strike a balance based on your
research design
No magic formula

Interview structure
Open
Closed
Avoid leading questions
Ask clear questions
Sensitivity
Avoid jargon
Listen/remember
Body language, tone of voice
Allowing time to reply
Pacing the interview

The 5 Ws of Interviewing
Who
What
Where
When
Why

Simplicity of interview
Be brief.
Be relevant.
Be unambiguous.
Be specific.
Be objective.
BUT also be on target for your
research agenda

WHY SAMPLING?
Reduced costs
Reduced field time
Increased accuracy
Enhanced methods

Sampling
A method by which some items
of a given population are selected as
representatives of the entire
population

POPULATION AND
SAMPLE
Population

Sample

Use parameters to
summarize features
Use statistics to
summarize features
Inference on the population from the

TYPES OF SAMPLING
Probability

sampling
Non-probability sampling

Probability sampling
Simple

Random Sampling
Stratified Random Sampling
Systematic Sampling
Multi stage Sampling

Simple random sampling

Equal chance/probability of drawing
each unit
Method
Take

sampling population
Need listing of all sampling units
(sampling frame)
Number all units
Randomly draw units

Stratified sampling
Divide sampling frame into
homogeneous subgroups (strata) e.g.
age-group, occupation;
Draw random sample in each strata.

Systematic sampling
Select sample at regular intervals based
on sampling fraction

Cluster sampling
Sample units not identified
independently but in a group (or
cluster)
Provides logistical advantage

Multiple stage sampling

consecutive

sampling

example

:
sampling unit = household
1st stage: draw neighborhoods
2nd stage: draw buildings
3rd stage: draw households

Errors?
Systematic

error (or bias)

Sample not typical of population

Inaccurate response (information bias)

Selection bias

Sampling

error (random error)

Sampling Error
Random difference between sample and
population from which sample drawn
Size of error can be measured in
probability samples
Expressed as standard error

of mean, proportion

Standard error (or precision) depends

upon:
Size of the sample
Distribution of character of interest in
population

Sampling frame
List of all the sampling units from which
sample is drawn
Lists: e.g. children < 5 years of age,
households, health care units

Sampling scheme
Method of selecting sampling units from
sampling frame
Randomly, convenience sample

Sampling Frame is Crucial in

Probability Sampling

If the sampling frame is a poor fit to the

population of interest, random sampling from that
frame cannot fix the problem
The sampling frame is non-randomly chosen.
Elements not in the sampling frame have zero
probability of selection.
Generalizations can be made ONLY to the actual
population defined by the sampling frame

Sampling unit (element)

Subject under observation on
which information is collected
Example: children <5 years, hospital
discharges, health events

Sampling fraction
Ratio between sample size and
population size

Sample Size

Heterogeneity: need larger sample to study more

diverse population
Desired precision: need larger sample to get
smaller error
Sampling design: smaller if stratified, larger if
cluster
Nature of analysis: complex multivariate
statistics
need larger samples
Accuracy of sample depends upon sample size,
not
ratio of sample to population

Non-probability sampling
Quota

Sampling
Judgment Sampling

Sampling Distribution
Sampling

Distribution of sample

Mean
Sampling Distribution of sample
Variance

Sampling Distribution of sample

Mean

The Central Limit Theorem

If the size is sufficiently large, the mean of

a random sample from a population has a
sampling distribution that is approximately
normal, regardless of the shape of the
relative frequency distribution of the
target population. As the sample size
increases, the better will be the normal
approximation to the sampling
distribution.

Properties of Sampling
Distribution of sample mean
The sampling distribution of X has a mean
equal to the mean of the population from
which the sample was selected
The sampling distribution of X has a
standard deviation equal to the standard
deviation of the population from which the
sample was selected, divided by the
square root of the sample size.