UNIT - III

Sampling Techniques
 SAMPLING
• A sample is “a smaller (but hopefully representative) collection
of units from a population used to determine truths about that
population” (Field, 2005)
• Why sample?
• Resources (time, money) and workload
• Gives results with known accuracy that can be calculated
mathematically
• The sampling frame is the list from which the potential
respondents are drawn
• Registrar’s office
• Class rosters
• Must assess sampling frame errors

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SAMPLING…….

STUDY POPULATION

SAMPLE

TARGET POPULATION

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 SAMPLING……
• What is your population of interest?
• To whom do you want to generalize your results?
• All doctors
• School children
• Indians
• Women aged 15-45 years
• Other
• Can you sample the entire population?

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SAMPLING…….

• 3 factors that influence sample representative-ness

• Sampling procedure
• Sample size
• Participation (response)

• When might you sample the entire population?

• When your population is very small
• When you have extensive resources
• When you don’t expect a very high response

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Technical Terminology
• An element is an object on which a measurement is taken.

• A population is a collection of elements about which we wish to make an

inference.

• Sampling units are nonoverlapping collections of elements from the

population that cover the entire population.
Technical Terms
• A sampling frame is a list of sampling units.

• A sample is a collection of sampling units drawn from a sampling frame.

• Parameter: numerical characteristic of a population

• Statistic: numerical characteristic of a sample

Interviewers
• Interviewers have a direct and dramatic effect on the way a person responds
to a question.

• Most people tend to side with the view apparently favored by the interviewer, especially
if they are neutral.

• Friendly interviewers are more successful.

• In general, interviewers of the same gender, racial, and ethnic groups as those being
interviewed are slightly more successful.
Respondents
• Respondents differ greatly in motivation to answer correctly and in ability to
do so.

• Obtaining an honest response to sensitive questions is difficult.

• Basic errors
• Recall bias: simply does not remember
• Prestige bias: exaggerates to ‘look’ better
• Intentional deception: lying
• Incorrect measurement: does not understand the units or definition
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.
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.

• Nonprobability Samples: members are selected from the

population in some nonrandom manner
• Methods include convenience sampling, judgment sampling, quota
sampling, and snowball sampling
Random Sampling
Random sampling is the purest form of probability sampling.

• 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 becomes biased.

• You can use software, such as minitab to generate random numbers or to draw directly from the
columns
Stratified Sampling
• Stratified sampling is commonly used probability method that is superior to random
sampling because it reduces sampling error.

• A stratum is a subset of the population that share at least one common characteristic;
such as males and females.

• Identify relevant stratums and their actual representation in the population.

• Random sampling is then used to select a sufficient number of subjects from each
stratum.

• Stratified sampling is often used when one or more of the stratums in the population have
a low incidence relative to the other stratums.
Cluster Sampling
• Cluster Sample: a probability sample in which each sampling unit is a
collection of elements.

• Effective under the following conditions:

• A good sampling frame is not available or costly, while a frame listing clusters is easily
obtained
• The cost of obtaining observations increases as the distance separating the elements
increases

• Examples of clusters:
• City blocks – political or geographical
• Housing units – college students
• Hospitals – illnesses
• Automobile – set of four tires
Systematic Sampling
• Systematic sampling 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.

• 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).
A. 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
B. 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.
C. 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.
D. 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.
Sample Size?
• The more heterogeneous a population is, the larger the sample needs to be.

• Depends on topic – frequently it occurs?

• For probability sampling, the larger the sample size, the better.

• With nonprobability samples, not generalizable regardless – still consider

stability of results
Response Rates
• About 20 – 30% usually return a questionnaire

• Follow up techniques could bring it up to about 50%

• Still, response rates under 60 – 70% challenge the integrity of the random
sample

• How the survey is distributed can affect the quality of sampling

Data Collection
 What is Data?
▪ Data is a existing information/knowledge represented or coded in
some form suitable for better usage or processing.

▪Data is a set of values of qualitative or quantitative variables.

 Quantitative Vs Qualitative Data

• Quantitative data are anything that can be expressed as a number, or

quantified. These data may be represented by ordinal, interval or ratio scales
and lend themselves to most statistical manipulation.

• Qualitative data is a categorical measurement expressed not in terms of

numbers, but rather by means of a natural language description. In statistics, it
is often used interchangeably with "categorical" data.

For example: favorite color = "blue"

 Quantitative Vs Qualitative Data

• Quantitative and Qualitative data can be gathered from the same data
unit depending on whether the variable of interest is numerical or
categorical. For example:
Data unit Numeric variable = Quantitative Categorical = Qualitative data
data variable

A person "How 2 children "In which India

many children do country were your
you have?" children born?"

"How much do Rs.60,000 p.m. "What is your Teacher

you earn?" occupation?"

"How many hours 40 hours per "Do you work full- Full-time
do you work?" week time or part-
time?"
 Primary and Secondary Data

• The task of data collection begins after a research problem has been
defined and research design/plan chalked out.

• While deciding about the method of data collection to be used for

the study, the researcher should keep in mind two types of data viz.,
primary and secondary.
 Primary and Secondary Data

• Primary Data are collected by the researcher.

• Secondary data collected by someone else and have already been passed
through the statistical process.

• A researcher as per requirement of study may decide on use of primary data or

secondary data or both.

• Both primary and secondary data have their own pros and cons.
Methods of Collecting Data

• The methods of collecting data mainly refers to collecting primary

data.

• As secondary data are already available, we have to carefully choose

the sources , relevancy of data and reliability.
Collecting Secondary Data

• Sources of secondary data are existing literature, Reports of

professional agencies, Departments, Archives, Internet, etc.

• While collecting secondary data one has to follow legal procedures

required and maintain the academic ethics.
 Methods of Collecting
Primary Data
There are several methods of collecting primary data, particularly in
surveys and descriptive research. Important ones are-
• Observation
• Interview
• Questionnaire
• Schedule
• Other Methods
Observation
See what is happening
• traffic patterns
• land use patterns
• layout of city and rural areas
• quality of housing
• condition of roads
• conditions of buildings
• who goes to a health clinic
Filtering Observations
 Observation is Helpful when:
• Need direct information
• Trying to understand ongoing behavior
• There is physical evidence, products, or outputs than can be observed
• Need to provide alternative when other data collection is infeasible or
inappropriate
Types of Observation

• Participatory and Non Participatory

• Candid and Covert

• Structured, Semi-structured and Unstructured.

• Controlled and Uncontrolled

 Advantages/Disadvantages of
Observation
Advantages:
▪ Subjective bias eliminated
▪ Researcher gets current information
▪ Independent of Respondents
▪ Disadvantages:
▪ Expensive, Time consuming
▪ Limited information
▪ Unforeseen factors may influence observation
Interview
• The interview method of collecting data involves presentation of
oral-verbal stimuli and reply in terms of oral-verbal responses.

• This method can be used through personal interviews or telephone

interviews.

• Structured, Semi-Structured or Unstructured Interview.

Interview Types
• Personal Interviews: Interviewer asking questions generally in a face-to-face contact
to the other person or persons. Direct personal investigation or Indirect oral
investigation.

• Focused Interview is meant to focus attention on the given experience of the

respondent and its effects.

• Clinical Interview is concerned with broad underlying feelings or motivations or

with the course of individual’s life experience.

• Non-directive Interview is that where the interviewer’s function is simply to

encourage the respondent to talk about the given topic with a bare minimum of
direct questioning.
Skill of Interviewer

The main game in interviewing is to facilitate an interviewee’s ability to answer.

This involves:

• easing respondents into the interview

• asking strategic questions

• prompting and probing appropriately

• keeping it moving

• winding it down when the time is right

 Merits/Demerits of Interview

Merits:
• More and in depth information obtained
• Personal Information
• Greater Flexibility
• Adaptation as per the respondent

Demerits:
• Bias of Interviewer
• Expensive/Time Consuming
• Need expertise
Questionnaire Method
• A questionnaire is sent (usually by post) to persons concerned with a
request to answer the questions and return the questionnaire.

• A questionnaire consists of a number of questions printed in a

definite order.

• The respondents have to answer the questions on their own.

 Steps in questionnaire construction
• Preparation
• Constructing the first draft
• Self-evaluation
• External evaluation
• Revision
• Pre-test or Pilot study
• Revision
• Second pre-testing
• Preparing final draft
 Essentials of a Good Questionnaire

• Questionnaire should be short and simple

• Question arranged in from simple to difficult.

• Personal and intimate questions should be left to the end.

• Technical term and vague expression should be avoided.

• Questions should be answered in yes or no ; multiple choice.

• Control question to cross check the information of the responded.

 Advantages of Questionnaire
• Lower cost
• Time saving
• Accessibility to widespread respondents
• No interviewer’s bias
• Greater anonymity
• Respondent’s convenience
• Standard wordings
• No Variation
 Disadvantages of questionnaire

• Questionnaires can be used only for educated people.

• Sometimes different respondent’s interpreted questions differently

• Questionnaires do not provide an opportunity to collect additional information

• Researchers are not sure whether the person to whom the questionnaire was
mailed has himself answered the questions.

• Many questions remain unanswered

• The respondent can consult other persons before filling in the questionnaire.
 Collection of Data Through Schedule

• Schedules like questionnaires contain a set of questions.

• Researcher /Enumerators appointed collect data through schedules.

• Enumerators go to the field, put questions to the respondents and fill

the schedules.

• Enumerators need to be trained.

 Questionnaire Vs. Schedule

Questionnaire Schedule
• Mailed, filled by Respondent • Direct contact , filled by
• Economical Researcher or Enumerator
• Non-Response high • Expensive
• Time Consuming • Non-Response low
• Literate, co-operative • Time bound
respondents • No such pre condition
• Success depends on quality • Success depends on quality of
of questionnaire enumerator
 Some Other Methods
• Warranty Cards Post card size cards sent to customers and feedback collected
through asking questions.

• Distributor or Store Audits are performed by manufacturer/distributor through

salesmen. Information so obtained are used to estimate market size, market
share, seasonal sales pattern, etc.

• Pantry Audits From the observation of pantry of customer to know purchase

habit of people ( of which product, what brand, etc.). Questions may be asked at
the time of audit.
 Some Other Methods
• Consumer Panels Pantry audit approach on a regular basis is known as ‘consumer
panel’, where a set of consumers are arranged to come to an understanding to
maintain detailed daily records of their consumption and the same is made
available to investigator on demands.

• Projective techniques developed by psychologists to use projections of

respondents for inferring about underlying motives, urges, or intentions which
are such that the respondent either resists to reveal them or is unable to figure
out himself.
 Some Other Methods

• Use of Mechanical Devices Eye Camera is used to record the focus of eyes of a
respondent on a specific portion of a sketch or diagram or written material.
Psychogalvanometer is used for measuring the extent of body excitement as a
result of the visual stimulus. Motion picture camera is used to record movement
of consumer at time of purchase. Audiometer is used to know the preferences to
TV channels, programmes.
 Some Other Methods
• Depth interviews are those interviews that are designed to discover underlying
motives and desires and are often used in motivational research. Indirect
question or projective technique are used to know the behaviour of
respondents.

• Content Analysis Analyzing the contents of documentary materials such as

books, magazines, newspapers and the contents of all other verbal materials
which can be either spoken or printed.
 Selection of Appropriate Method of Data
Collection

▪ Nature, Scope and Object of enquiry

▪ Availability of Fund

▪ Availability of Time

▪ Degree of Precision Required

 Precautions in Data Collection

• The data must be relevant to the research problem.

• It should be collected through formal or standardized research

tools.

• The data should be such as these can be subjected to statistical

treatment easily.

• The data should have minimum measurement error.

 Precautions in Data Collection

• The data must be tenable for the verification of the hypotheses.

• The data should be collected through objective procedure.

• The data should be accurate and precise.

• The data should be reliable and valid

• The data should be complete in itself and also comprehensive in

nature.
QUESTIONNAIRE
What Is A Questionnaire?
A tool for collecting information to describe, compare, or
explain an event or situation, as well as, knowledge,
attitudes, behaviors, and/or sociodemographic
characteristics on a particular target group.

Questionnaire General Format

• Self-administered (by mail or personal contact)
• In person (face-to-face)
• Telephone interviews
Questionnaires in Clinical Research
• Much of the data in clinical research is gathered using questionnaires or
interviews.
• The validity of the results depends on the quality of these instruments.
• Good questionnaires are difficult to construct; bad questionnaires are difficult to
analyze.
• Difficult to design for several reasons:
• Each question must provide a valid and reliable measure.
• The questions must clearly communicate the research intention to the survey
respondent.
• The questions must be assembled into a logical, clear instrument that flows naturally
and will keep the respondent sufficiently interested to continue to cooperate.
Quality aims in survey research
Goal is to collect information that is:
• Valid: measures the quantity or concept that is supposed to be
measured
• Reliable: measures the quantity or concept in a consistent or
reproducible manner
• Unbiased: measures the quantity or concept in a way that does not
systematically under- or overestimate the true value
• Discriminating: can distinguish adequately between respondents for
whom the underlying level of the quantity or concept is different
Steps to design a questionnaire:
1. Write out the primary and secondary aims of your study.
2. Write out concepts/information to be collected that relates to these
aims.
3. Review the current literature to identify already validated
questionnaires that measure your specific area of interest.
4. Compose a draft of your questionnaire.
5. Revise the draft.
6. Assemble the final questionnaire.
Step 1: Define the aims of the study
• Write out the problem and primary and secondary aims using one
sentence per aim. Formulate a plan for the statistical analysis of each
aim.
• Make sure to define the target population in your aim(s).

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Step 2: Define the variables to be collected

• Write a detailed list of the information to be collected and the concepts to be measured
in the study. Are you trying to identify:
• Attitudes
• Needs
• Behavior
• Demographics
• Some combination of these concepts
• Translate these concepts into variables that can be measured.
• Define the role of each variable in the statistical analysis:
• Predictor
• Confounder
• Outcome

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Step 3: Review the literature
• Review current literature to identify related surveys and data
collection instruments that have measured concepts similar to those
related to your study’s aims.
• Saves development time and allows for comparison with other
studies if used appropriately.
• Proceed with caution if using only a subset of an existing
questionnaire as this may change the meaning of the scores. Contact
the authors of the questionnaire to determine if a smaller version of
the instrument exists that has also been validated.

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Step 4: Compose a draft
• Determine the mode of survey administration: face-to-face interviews,
telephone interviews, self-completed questionnaires, computer-assisted
approaches.
• Write more questions than will be included in the final draft.
• Format the draft as if it were the final version with appropriate white space
to get an accurate estimate as to its length – longer questionnaires reduce
the response rate.
• Place the most important items in the first half of the questionnaire to
increase response on the important measures even in partially completed
surveys.
• Make sure questions flow naturally from one to another.

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Contd.
• Question: How many cups of coffee or tea do you drink in a day?
• Principle: Ask for an answer in only one dimension.
• Solution: Separate the question into two –
• (1) How many cups of coffee do you drink during a typical day?
• (2) How many cups of tea do you drink during a typical day?

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Step 5: Revise
• Shorten the set of questions for the study. If a question does not
address one of your aims, discard it.
• Refine the questions included and their wording by testing them with
a variety of respondents.
• Ensure the flow is natural.
• Verify that terms and concepts are familiar and easy to understand for your
target audience.
• Keep recall to a minimum and focus on the recent past.

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Step 6: Assemble the final questionnaire

• Decide whether you will format the questionnaire yourself or use computer-based
programs for assistance:
• SurveyMonkey.com
• Adobe Live Cycle Designer 7.0
• GCRC assistance
• At the top, clearly state:
• The purpose of the study
• How the data will be used
• Instructions on how to fill out the questionnaire
• Your policy on confidentiality
• Include identifying data on each page of a multi-page, paper-based questionnaire such as
a respondent ID number in case the pages separate.

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Assemble the final questionnaire – Contd.
• Group questions concerning major subject areas together and
introduce them by heading or short descriptive statements.
• Order questions in order to stimulate recall.
• Order and format questions to ensure unbiased and balanced results.

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Assemble the final questionnaire – Contd.
• Include white space to make answers clear and to help increase
response rate.
• Space response scales widely enough so that it is easy to circle or
check the correct answer without the mark accidentally including the
answer above or below.
• Open-ended questions: the space for the response should be big enough to
allow respondents with large handwriting to write comfortably in the space.
• Closed-ended questions: line up answers vertically and precede them with
boxes or brackets to check, or by numbers to circle, rather than open blanks.
• Use larger font size (e.g., 14) and high contrast (black on white).
Enhance response rate
• When writing questions and assembling the final questionnaire, edit
with a view towards saliency: apparent relevance, importance, and
interest of the survey to the respondent
• Consider either pre-notifying those in your sample or sending
reminders to those who received the survey (if self-administered).
Studies have shown that making contact with the sampled individuals
increases the response rate.
• If possible, offer an incentive.

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Non-responders
• Understanding the characteristics of those who did not respond to
the survey is important to quantify what, if any, bias exists in the
results.
• To quantify the characteristics of the non-responders to postal
surveys, Moser and Kalton suggest tracking the length of time it takes
for surveys to be returned. Those who take the longest to return the
survey are most like the non-responders. This result may be
situation-dependent.

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Conclusions
• You need plenty of time!
• Design your questionnaire from research hypotheses that have been carefully
studied and thought out.
• Discuss the research problem with colleagues and subject matter experts is
critical to developing good questions.
• Review, revise and test the questions on an iterative basis.
• Examine the questionnaire as a whole for flow and presentation.

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Pilot study
DEFINITION

• Pilot study is a trail study carry out before a

research design is finalized to assist in defining the
research question or to test the feasibility,
reliability, and validity of the proposed study
design.
MEANING AND CONCEPTS

• A pilot study is a small study designed to gather

information prior to a larger study, in order to
improve the quality of final study.
• A pilot study can reveal deficiencies in the design of
a proposed research proposal.
• A good research strategy requires careful planning
& a pilot study often is a part of this strategy.
REASONS FOR CONDUCTING A PILOT STUDY

• Main Reasons :
1. Process : This assesses the feasibility of the process
that are key to the success of the main study

2. Resources : This deals with assessing time &

resource problems that can occur during the main
study.
3. Management : This covers potential human & data
management problems.

4. Scientific : This deals with the assessment of the

response, effect & variance of the effect.
OTHER REASONS

1. Developing & testing adequacy of research instrument.

2. Assessing the feasibility of a full scale study /survey.
3. Establishing whether the sampling frame & technique are
effective collecting preliminary data.
4. Determining what resources are needed for a planned
study
5. Assessing the proposed data analysis techniques to
uncover potential problems.
6. Developing a research question & research plan.
ADVANTAGES

• It permits preliminary testing of hypothesis that leads

to testing more precise hypotheses in the main study.
• It often provides the researcher with ideas,
approaches & clues the researcher may not have
foreseen before conducting the pilot study.
• It may save lot of time & money.
• It permits a thorough check of the planned statistical
& analytical procedures, giving a researcher a chance
to evaluate their usefulness to the data.
• It can greatly reduce the number of unanticipated
problems because the researcher have all
opportunity to redesign parts of his/her study to
overcome difficulties that the pilot study reveals.
• In the pilot study, the researcher may try out a
number of alternative measures & then select those
that produce the clearest results for the cleanest
results for the main study.
PROBLEMS OF PIOLT STUDY

• Possibility of making inaccurate predictions or

assumptions on the basis of pilot data.
• Completing a pilot study successfully is not a
guarantee of the success of the full scale survey.
• A more common problem is deciding whether to
include pilot study participants in the main study.
THANK YOU