ISSUES IN SAMPLE SIZE

What is Sampling?
SAMPLING IS THE PROCESS OF
SELECTING A SAMPLE FROM A
POPULATION
NECESITATED BY FACTORS SUCH
AS FEASIBILITY AND LIMITED
RESOURCES
 PRINCIPLES OF SAMPLING
AVOIDANCE OF BIAS

ACHIEVE HIGH PRECISION FOR A

GIVEN OUTLAY OF RESOURCES
 HOW TO AVOID BIAS
TAKE A PROBABILITY SAMPLE
THIS IS KNOWN AS A RANDOM
SAMPLE
SAMPLE HAS A KNOWN CHANCE OF
BEING SELECTED
 EXAMPLES OF PROBABILITY
SAMPLES
SIMPLE RANDOM SAMPLE
SYSTEMATIC SAMPLE
STRATIFIED RANDOM SAMPLE
CLUSTER SAMPLE
MULTI-STAGE RANDOM SAMPLE
MULTI-PHASE RANDOM SAMPLE
 TYPES OF NON- PROBABILITY
SAMPLES
VOLUNTEERS
HAPHAZARD
QUOTA
PURPOSIVE
CONVENIENCE
SAMPLE SIZE DETERMINATION
Practical Considerations:
PURPOSE OF STUDY
PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE
Cost
Sample size from previous studies
Type of analysis required particularly in terms of cross
tabulations
STATISTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
HOW SMALL A DIFFERENCE IS TO BE
DETECTED
Type 1 error
STATISTICAL POWER TO DETECT AN ACTUAL
DIFFERENCE
Variability in measurement
Study design
 Example 1 (S.S for single mean)
A health officer wishes to estimate the
mean haemoglobin in a defined
community. Preliminary information is that
this mean is about 150mg/l with a SD of
32mg/l. If a sampling error of up to 5mg/l
in the estimate is to be tolerated, how
many subjects should be included in the
study?
Solution
Example 2 (S.S for a proportion)
Suppose the prevalence of brucella
infection is 2% and the absolute difference
to be detected is 0.25% with a 95%
confidence, what is the sample size
required?
Solution
S.S for 2 proportions
THANK YOU