Sampling

Procedure
and the
Sample
 Population and Sample
⪢The first step in determining the sample size is
identifying the population of the topic of interest.
⪢The population is the totality of all the objects,
elements, persons, and characteristics under
consideration. It is understood that this population
possesses common characteristics about which the
research aims to explore.
There are two types of population: target
population and accessible population.

⪢ The actual population is the target

population,
⪢ For example, all Senior High School
Students enrolled in Science,
Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics (STEM) in the Division
of Cagayan de Oro City.
⪢ While the accessible population
is the portion of the population in
which the researcher has
reasonable access,
⪢ For example all Senior High
School enrolled, STEM strand at
Marayon Science High School –
X.
⪢ When the whole population is too costly or
time-consuming or impractical to consider,
then, a sample representative is identified.
⪢ Sampling pertains to the systematic process
of selecting the group to be analyzed in the
research study.
⪢ The goal is to get information from a group
that represents the target population. Once a
good sample is obtained, the generalizability
and applicability of findings increases.
⪢ The representative subset of the
population refers to the sample. All the
240 Senior High School Students enrolled
in Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics (STEM) Strand in a school,
⪢ For example, constitute the population; 60
of those students constitute the sample.
 ⪢ A good sample should have

“ characteristics of the represented

population – characteristics that
are within the scope of the study
with fair accuracy.
⪢ Generally, the larger the sample,
the more reliable the sample be,
but still, it will depend on the scope
and delimitation and research
design of the study.
Approaches in
Identifying the
Sample Size
1. Heuristics. This approach refers to the rule of the thumb
for sample size. The early established approach by Gay
(1976) stated by Cristobal and Dela Cruz-Cristobal (2017, p
172), sample sizes for different research designs are the
following:
Lunenberg and Irby (2008), as cited
by Barrot (2017, p 107), also
suggested different sample sizes for
each quantitative research design.
 2. Literature Review.
⪢ Another approach is by reading similar or
related literature and studies to your current
research study.
⪢ Since you are done writing your review of
related literature and studies, you might want
to recall how these studies determine sample
size.
⪢ Using this approach increases the validity of
your sampling procedure.
3. Formulas. Formulas are also
being established for the
computation of an acceptable
sample size. The common formula
is Slovin’s Formula.
⪢ 4. Power Analysis. This approach is founded on the principle of power analysis.
There are two principles you need to consider if you are going to use this
approach: these are statistical power and effect size.
⪢The probability of rejecting the null hypothesis is called statistical power.
⪢It suggests that indeed there is a relationship between the independent and
dependent variables of the research study. The ideal statistical power of a research
study is 80%. With the statistical power, it will be used to identify the sufficient
sample size for measuring the effect size of a certain treatment.
⪢The level of difference between the experimental group and the control group
refers to effect size.
⪢ If the statistical power tells that relationship between
independent and dependent variables, the effect size suggests
the extent of the relationship between these two variables.
⪢ Henceforth, the higher the effect size, means the greater the
level difference between the experimental and control groups.
⪢ For example, your research study reveals that there is a
difference in the pretest and posttest scores of the students in
the given anxiety test after implementing a psychosocial
intervention. With the effect size, you will have an idea of how
small or large the difference is.
Probability Sampling in
Quantitative Research
• Simple Random Sampling. It is a way of choosing
individuals in which all members of the accessible
population are given an equal chance to be selected.
• There are various ways of obtaining samples through
simple random sampling. These are fish bowl
technique, roulette wheel, or use of the table of
random numbers.
⪢ Stratified Random Sampling. The same with simple random
sampling, stratified random sampling also gives an equal
chance to all members of the population to be chosen.

⪢ However, the population is first divided into strata or groups

before selecting the samples. The samples are chosen from
these subgroups and not directly from the entire population.
This procedure is best used when the variables of the study are
also grouped into classes such as gender and grade level.
You can simply follow the steps from this
given example:

A population of 600 Junior High School

students includes 180 Grade 7, 160 Grade 8,
150 Grade 9, and 110 Grade 10. If the
computed sample size is 240, the following
proportionate sampling will be as follows.
The number of members per subgroup is divided by the total
accessible sample size. The percentage result of members
per subgroup will be multiplied from the computed total
sample size. After obtaining the sample size per strata, then
simple random sampling will be done for the selection of
samples from each group.
⪢ Cluster Sampling. This procedure is usually
applied in large-scale studies, geographical spread
out of the population is a challenge, and gathering
information will be very time-consuming.
⪢ Similar to stratified random sampling, cluster
sampling also involves grouping of the population
according to subgroups or clusters.
⪢ It is a method where multiple clusters of people
from the chosen population will be created by the
researcher in order to have homogenous
characteristics.
For example, a researcher would like to
interview of all public senior high school
students across Mindanao. As a researcher
cluster will be selected to satisfy the plan
size. In the given example, the first cluster
can be by region, the second cluster can be
by division, and the third cluster can be by
district. Another way of doing cluster
sampling is illustrated on the figure on the
right side.
⪢ Systematic Sampling. This procedure is as simple as
selecting samples every nth (example every 2nd, 5th) of
the chosen population until arriving at a desired total
number of sample size. Therefore the selection is based on
a predetermined interval. Dividing the population size by
the sample size, the interval will be obtained.
⪢ For example, from a total population of 75, you have 25
samples; using systematic sampling, you will decide to
select every 3rd person on the list of individuals.
Thanks!
Any questions?