Sampling and Sampling

Distribution
Dr Kishor Bhanushali
Faculty Member
IBS – Ahmedabad
Email: kishorkisu@rediffmail.com
 Topics
• Population and samples
• Parameters and statistics
• Types of Sampling
• Simple random Sampling
• Stratified Sampling
• Systematic Sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Sampling distribution
• Standard errors
• Sampling from normal and non-normal
population
• Central limit theorem
• Finite population multiplier
 Census Sample
• A census study occurs if the entire
population is very small or it is
reasonable to include the entire
population (for other reasons).

• It is called a census sample because

data is gathered on every member of
the population.
 Parameters and statistics
• A statistics is the characteristics
(mean, median, mode, standard
deviation etc) of the sample
• A parameter is the characteristics
(mean, median, mode, standard
deviation etc) of the population
 Why sample?

• The population of interest is

usually too large to attempt to
survey all of its members.

• A carefully chosen sample can

be used to represent the
population.
– The sample reflects the
characteristics of the population
 Probability versus
Nonprobability
• Probability Samples: each member of
the population has a known non-zero
probability of being selected
– Methods include random sampling, systematic
sampling, and stratified sampling.

• No probability Samples: members are

selected from the population in some
nonrandom manner
– Methods include convenience sampling,
judgment sampling, quota sampling, and
snowball sampling
 Simple Random Sampling
• Simple random sampling selects samples by
methods that
allow each item in the entire population to
have an equal probability of being picked up
and each item in the entire population to have
an equal chance of being included in the
sample

• Each member of the population has an equal

and known chance of being selected.

• When there are very large populations, it is

often ‘difficult’ to identify every member of the
population, so the pool of available subjects
 Systematic Sampling
• Systematic samplingis 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.

• As long as the list does not contain any hidden

order, this sampling method is as good as the
random sampling method.

• Its only advantage over the random sampling

technique is simplicity (and possibly cost
effectiveness).
 Stratified Sampling
• To use stratified sampling, we
divide the population into
relatively homogeneous groups,
called strata. That we use one of
two approaches. Either we select
at random from each stratum a
specified number of elements
corresponding to that stratum in
the population as a whole or we
draw an equal number of elements
from each stratum and give
weight to the result according to
the stratum proportion of total
population.
 Cluster Sampling
• In cluster sampling we divide the
population into groups, or clusters,
and than select a random sample
form these clusters.
 Convenience Sampling
• Convenience sampling is used in exploratory
research where the researcher is interested in
getting an inexpensive approximation.

• The sample is selected because they are

convenient.

• It is a nonprobability method.
– Often used during preliminary research efforts to get
an estimate without incurring the cost or time
required to select a random sample
 Judgment Sampling
• Judgment sampling is a common
nonprobability method.

• The sample is selected based upon

judgment.
– an extension of convenience sampling

• When using this method, the researcher

must be confident that the chosen
sample is truly representative of the
entire population.
 Quota Sampling
• Quota sampling is the nonprobability equivalent
of stratified sampling.

– First identify the stratums and their proportions

as they are represented in the population

– Then convenience or judgment sampling is

used to select the required number of subjects
from each stratum.
 Snowball Sampling
• Snowball sampling is a special nonprobability
method used when the desired sample
characteristic is rare.

• It may be extremely difficult or cost prohibitive

to locate respondents in these situations.

• This technique relies on referrals from initial

subjects to generate additional subjects.

• It lowers search costs; however, it introduces

bias because the technique itself reduces the
likelihood that the sample will represent a good
cross section from the population.
 Sampling Errors
• Sampling error refers to difference
between the sample and population
that exits only because of the
observations that happened to be
selected for the sample.
• The difference between the true
(unknown) value of population mean
and its estimate (the sample mean)
is the sampling error
 Non-sampling Errors
• Non-sampling error is more serious
than sampling error, because taking
large sample won’t diminish the size
or the possibility of occurrence of this
errors
• Non-sampling error are due to
mistakes made in the acquisition of
data or due to the sample
observations being selected
improperly
 Sampling distribution
• A probability distribution of all the
possible means of the samples is a
distribution of sample means which
is called a sampling distribution of
means
• Any probability distribution (and
therefore, any sampling distribution)
can be partially described by its
mean and standard deviation
 Standard Error
• Standard deviation of the distribution of sample
mean is called standard error
• The standard deviation of the distribution of
sample means measures the extent to which we
expect the means from the different samples to
vary because of chance or error in the sampling
process
• Standard error indicates not only the size of the
chance error that has been made, but also the
accuracy we are likely to get, if we use a sample
statistics to estimate a population parameter
• Distribution of sample mean that is less spread
(small standard error) is better estimator of
population mean than a distribution of sample
means that is widely dispersed and has a larger
 Sampling from Normal
Population
• The sampling distribution has a mean
equal to the population mean
• The sampling distribution has a
standard deviation (standard error)
equal to the population standard
deviation divided by the square root
of the sample size
 Sampling from Non-normal
Population
• Even in the case in which the
population is not normally
distributed, the mean of sampling
distribution will still be equal to the
population mean
 The Central Limit Theorem
• The mean of the sampling distribution will equal
to the population mean regardless of the sample
size, even if the population is not-normal
• As the sample size increases the sampling
distribution of mean will approach normality,
regardless of the shape of population distribution
• This relationship between the shape of the
population distribution and the shape of the
sampling distribution of the mean is called the
central limit theorem
• Central limit theorem permits us to use sample
statistics to make inferences about population
parameters without the knowing the anything
about the shape of the frequency distribution of
that population other than what we can get from
 Finite Population Multiplier
• Finite population is a population which has a
fixed upper bound
• In cases of a finite population, an
adjustment is made to the Z equation for
sample means The adjustment is
called correction factor, or finite population
multiplier.

• A rule of thumb is that if sampling is done

without replacement from a finite
population and the sample size n is greater
than 5% of the population size N, i.e.,
n/N>0.05, then the correction factor should