RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Sampling Design

Priya Badarinath & Raghu B. A & Roopa Ravish

Department of Computer Science and Engineering
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Ch. 4: Sampling Design

Department of Computer Science and Engineering

CONTENTS

1) Introduction
2) Census survey
3) Sample survey
4) Population to Sample
5) Sample Design
6) Steps in Sample Design
7) Procedure – Sampling Technique
8) Sampling Error
9) Types of Sample Designs
a)Probability Sampling
i. Simple Random Sampling Design
ii.Complex Random Sampling Designs
b)Non probability Sampling
INTRODUCTION

● Items in field of inquiry – Universe / Population

● Enumeration of all items in population = Census Survey.
● When all objects are covered -> highest accuracy

● Possible? Cost, Bias?

● Census is impossible in situation where population is infinite.

● Select only few items = Sample
● Procedure for selection = Sampling Technique.

⮚A sample is “a smaller (but hopefully representative) collection of

units from a population used to determine truths about that
population” (Field, 2005)

⮚The sampling frame A list of all elements or other units containing

the elements in a population.
POPULATION
The larger group from which individuals are selected to participate
in a study

TARGET POPULATION
A set of elements larger than or different from the population
sampled and to which the researcher would
like to generalize study findings.
POPULATION TO SAMPLE
SAMPLING
Definition: “The process of selecting a number of individuals
for a study in such a way that the individuals represent the
larger group from which they were selected.”

Sample
SAMPLE DESIGN

● Plan for obtaining sample from a population

● Technique / procedure a researcher will adopt in selecting sample.
● Sample design is determined before data are collected.
● There are many sample designs from which a researcher can choose.
● Some designs are relatively more precise and easier to apply than others.
● Researcher must select/prepare a sample design which should be reliable
and appropriate for his research study.
MAIN STEPS OF SAMPLING

1) Objective
2) Population
3) Sampling Unit and Frame
4) Size of Sample
5) Parameter of Interest
6) Data Collection
7) Non respondents
8) Selection of proper sampling design
9) Organizing field work
10)Pilot Survey
11)Budgetary Constraints
MAIN STEPS OF SAMPLING

Objective :
● Define the objective of study. It should be in proportion with
money, manpower and time.

Population (or Universe):

● Should be clearly defined.

Sampling Units and Frames:

● Sampling unit – for study
● geographic unit – state, district, state or

● construction unit – flat, house, or

● social unit – house, flat

Source List – Sampling Frame

MAIN STEPS OF SAMPLING

Size of Sample
● Number of units to be selected.
● Size should be neither too large nor too small
● Optimal size –> efficiency, flexibility, reliability.

Parameters of Interest
● Statistical constants of population – parameters.
● Ex - mean population, population proportion
MAIN STEPS OF SAMPLING

Data Collection:
● Only relevant information to be collected.
● Objective to be made clear

Non respondents
● Because of practical difficulties, data may not be collected
for all sampled units.
● Non responses tend to change results
MAIN STEPS OF SAMPLING

Selection of proper Sampling Design :

● Must decide technique in selecting the items for sample.
● Must yield less error

Organizing field work:

● Success depends on reliable field work.
● There should be efficient supervisory staff and trained
personnel for field work.
MAIN STEPS OF SAMPLING

Pilot Survey
● Try research on small scale before going to field.

Budgetary Constraints
● Cost consideration, from practical viewpoint.
● Have major impact upon decision relating to not only size
but also types of sample.

Organizing field work

● Success depends on reliable field work
 CRITERIA OF SELECTING A SAMPLING PROCEDURE

Two costs are involved in a sampling analysis viz., the cost of collecting the data
and the cost of an incorrect inference resulting from the data. Researcher must
keep in view the two causes of incorrect inferences viz., systematic bias and
sampling error.
CRITERIA OF SELECTING A SAMPLING PROCEDURE

1. Inappropriate sampling frame: If the sampling frame is inappropriate i.e., a

biased representation of the universe, it will result in a systematic bias.

2. Defective measuring device: If the measuring device is constantly in error, it will

result in systematic bias. In survey work, systematic bias can result if the
questionnaire or the interviewer is biased. Similarly, if the physical measuring device
is defective there will be systematic bias in the data collected through such a
measuring device.

3. Non-respondents: If we are unable to sample all the individuals initially included

in the sample, there may arise a systematic bias. The reason is that in such a
situation the likelihood of establishing contact or receiving a response from an
individual is often correlated with the measure of what is to be estimated.
CRITERIA OF SELECTING A SAMPLING PROCEDURE

4. Indeterminancy principle: Sometimes we find that individuals act differently

when kept under observation than what they do when kept in non-observed
situations.

For instance, if workers are aware that somebody is observing them in course of a
work study on the basis of which the average length of time to complete a task will be
determined and accordingly the quota will be set for piece work, they generally tend
to work slowly in comparison to the speed with which they work if kept unobserved.
Thus, the indeterminancy principle may also be a cause of a systematic bias.
CRITERIA OF SELECTING A SAMPLING PROCEDURE

5. Natural bias in the reporting of data:

Natural bias of respondents in the reporting of data is often the cause of a systematic
bias in many inquiries. There is usually a downward bias in the income data collected
by government taxation department, whereas we find an upward bias in the income
data collected by some social organisation. People in general understate their
incomes if asked about it for tax purposes, but they overstate the same if asked for
social status or their affluence. Generally in psychological surveys, people tend to
give what they think is the ‘correct’ answer rather than revealing their true feelings.
SAMPLING ERROR
● Only a part of population has been used
for estimation and to draw inference.
● Sampling errors are absent in census
survey
● Can be measured for a given size and
sample design = precision of sampling
plan.
● If we increase the sample size, precision
can be improved.
● Also increases cost and systematic bias

NON- SAMPLING ERROR

● Arises at the stage of collection and
preparation of data.
● Present in both sample & census survey
● Can be reduced by defining the sampling
unit, frame and population correctly.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD SAMPLE DESIGN

(a) Sample design must result in a truly representative sample.

(b) Sample design must be such which results in a small sampling error.
(c) Sample design must be viable in the context of funds available for the research
study.
(d) Sample design must be such so that systematic bias can be controlled in a
better way.
(e) Sample should be such that the results of the sample study can be applied, in
general, for the universe with a reasonable level of confidence.
SAMPLING TECHNIQUES
TYPES OF SAMPLING DESIGN
SIMPLE RANDOM SAMPLING

● It is the purest form of probability sampling.

● Each member of the finite population has an equal probability and known
chance of being selected.
● Sampling without replacement
● When there are very large populations?
■ it is often difficult
■ impossible to identify every member of the population
■ The pool of available subjects becomes biased.
● Examples :
■ Lottery or Fishbowl
■ Survey of insect population living in woodland
■ Trees no. 1 to 1200. 10 trees are chosen at random
● Random number tables available [by Tippett, Yates, Fisher]
SIMPLE RANDOM SAMPLING
COMPLEX RANDOM SAMPLING DESIGNS
SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING
● It is often used instead of random sampling.
● It is also called an Nth name selection technique.
● After the required sample size has been calculated, every Nth record is
selected from a list of population members.
● Randomness introduced in picking the start point.
● As long as the list does not contain any hidden order, this sampling
method is as good as the random sampling method.
● It’s only advantage over the random sampling technique is simplicity,
easy, cheap. And applicable for large populations.
● Systematic sampling is frequently used to select a specified number of
records from a computer file.
SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING
SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING
Example: to select a sample of 25 dorm rooms in your college hotel, make a
list of all the room numbers in the dorm.
● For example if there are 100 rooms.

● divide the total number of rooms (100) by the number of rooms you want

in the sample (25). The answer is 4.

● This means that you are going to select every fourth dorm room from the

list.
● First of all, we have to determine the random starting point.

● This step can be done by picking any point on the table of room numbers,

and read across or down until you come to a number between 1 and 4.
This is your random starting point.
● For instance, your random starting point is "3". This means you select

dorm room #3 as your first room, and then every fourth room down the
list (3, 7, 11, 15, 19, etc.) until you have 25 rooms selected.
 STRATIFIED SAMPLING
● Chosen when sample to be drawn doesn’t constitute homogeneous group.
● Population is divided into sub-populations that are individually
homogeneous - strata
● Stratified Sampling is possible when it makes sense to partition the
population into groups based on a factor that may influence the variable
that is being measured.
● These groups are then called strata. Based on one or more characteristic.
● An individual group is called a stratum. With stratified sampling one
should:
■ partition the population into groups (strata)
■ obtain a simple random sample from each group (stratum)
■ collect data on each sampling unit that was randomly sampled from
each group (stratum)
■ Called Stratified random sampling
● Stratified sampling works best when a heterogeneous population is split
into fairly homogeneous groups.
STRATIFIED SAMPLING
STRATIFIED SAMPLING
 CLUSTER SAMPLING
● Used when population is divided into groups or clusters
● Samples are selected from groups rather than individuals which is
employed into large scale survey.

Advantages:
● Very useful when population is spread over large geographic area.
● Convenient and expedient
● Does not need names of everyone in population.
● Reduced cost

Disadvantages:
● Representation is likely to become an issue
● Less precise than random sampling.

If clusters (or groups/subdivisions) are geographic areas, then this is called

Area Sampling.
CLUSTER SAMPLING
 MULTISTAGE SAMPLING
● Selects samples using more than 1 sampling technique.
● Complex - Hence rarely used.
● Requires lot of effort, time & cost.
SEQUENTIAL SAMPLING

● Complex Sample design

● Size is not fixed in advance.
● Adopted in case of acceptance sampling.
■ When a particular lot to be accepted / rejected on basis of single
sample - single sampling
■ When decision taken on basis of 2 samples - double sampling
● When number of samples are more than two, but neither certain nor decided in
advance - Sequential Sampling
 QUOTA SAMPLING
● This is a type of non probability sampling.
● Population is divided into mutually exclusive sub groups as in stratified
sampling.
● Judgement is used to select the subject or unit from each segment based
on specified portion.
● Quota sampling is judgement samples rather than random samples.
QUOTA SAMPLING
THANK YOU

Department of Computer Science and Engineering