Sampling Distribution

Last Updated : 30 Apr, 2024

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Sampling distribution is essential in various aspects of real life.

Sampling distributions are important for inferential statistics. A
sampling distribution represents the distribution of a statistic, like
the mean or standard deviation, which is calculated from multiple
samples of a population. It shows how these statistics vary across
different samples drawn from the same population.
In this article, we will discuss the Sampling Distribution in detail
and its types along with examples and go through some practice
questions too.
Table of Content
 What is Sampling Distribution?
 Understanding Sampling Distribution
 Types of Distributions
 Central Limit Theorem[CLT]
 Examples on Sampling Distribution
 Practice Questions on Sample Distribution
 FAQs on Sampling Distribution
What is Sampling Distribution?
Sampling distribution is also known as a finite-sample
distribution. Sampling distribution is the probability distribution
of a statistic based on random samples of a given population. It
represents the distribution of frequencies on how spread apart
various outcomes will be for a specific population.
Since population is too large to analyze, you can select a smaller
group and repeatedly sample or analyze them. The gathered
data, or statistic, is used to calculate the likely occurrence, or
probability, of an event.
Important Terminologies in Sampling Distribution
Some important terminologies related to sampling distribution are
given below:
 Statistic: A numerical summary of a sample, such as
mean, median, standard deviation, etc.
 Parameter: A numerical summary of a population is
often estimated using sample statistics.
 Sample: A subset of individuals or observations selected
from a population.
  Population: Entire group of individuals or observations
that a study aims to describe or draw conclusions about.
 Sampling Distribution: Distribution of a statistic (e.g.,
mean, standard deviation) across multiple samples taken
from the same population.
 Central Limit Theorem(CLT): A fundamental theorem
in statistics stating that the sampling distribution of the
sample mean tends to be approximately normal as the
sample size increases, regardless of the shape of the
population distribution.
 Standard Error: Standard deviation of a sampling
distribution, representing the variability of sample
statistics around the population parameter.
 Bias: Systematic error in estimation or inference, leading
to a deviation of the estimated statistic from the true
population parameter.
 Confidence Interval: A range of values calculated from
sample data that is likely to contain the population
parameter with a certain level of confidence.
 Sampling Method: Technique used to select a sample
from a population, such as simple random sampling,
stratified sampling, cluster sampling, etc.
 Inferential Statistics: Statistical methods and
techniques used to draw conclusions or make inferences
about a population based on sample data.
 Hypothesis Testing: A statistical method for making
decisions or drawing conclusions about a population
parameter based on sample data and assumptions about
the population.
Understanding Sampling Distribution
Sampling distribution of a statistic is the distribution of all
possible values taken by the statistic when all possible samples of
a fixed size n are taken from the population. Each random sample
that is selected may have a different value assigned to the
statistics being studied. Sampling distribution of a statistic is the
probability distribution of that statistic.
Factors Influencing Sampling Distribution
A sampling distribution's variability can be measured either by
calculating the standard deviation(also called the standard error
of the mean), or by calculating the population variance. The one
to be chosen is depending on the context and interferences you
want to draw. They both measure the spread of data points in
relation to the mean.
3 main factors influencing the variability of a sampling distribution
are:
1. Number Observed in a Population: The symbol for
this variable is "N." It is the measure of observed activity
in a given group of data.
2. Number Observed in Sample: The symbol for this
variable is "n." It is the measure of observed activity in a
random sample of data that is part of the larger grouping.
3. Method of Choosing Sample: How you chose the
samples can account for variability in some cases.
Types of Distributions
There are 3 main types of sampling distributions are:
 Sampling Distribution of Mean
 Sampling Distribution of Proportion
 T-Distribution
Sampling Distribution of Mean
Mean is the most common type of sampling distribution.
It focuses on calculating the mean or rather the average of every
sample group chosen from the population and plotting the data
points. The graph shows a normal distribution where the center is
the mean of the sampling distribution, which represents the mean
of the entire population.
We take many random samples of a given size n from a
population with mean µ and standard deviation σ. Some sample
means will be above the population mean µ and some will be
below, making up the sampling distribution.
For any population with mean µ and standard deviation σ:
 Mean, or center of the sampling distribution of x̄, is equal
to the population mean, µ.
µx−µx− = µ
There is no tendency for a sample mean to fall systematically
above or below µ, even if the distribution of the raw data is
skewed. Thus, the mean of the sampling distribution is an
unbiased estimate of the population mean µ.
 Sampling distribution of the sample
mean

 Standard deviation of the sampling distribution is σ/√n,

where n is the sample size.
σxσx = σ/√n
 Standard deviation of the sampling distribution measures
how much the sample statistic varies from sample to
sample. It is smaller than the standard deviation of the
population by a factor of √n. Averages are less variable
than individual observations.

sampling distribution of
standard deviation
Sampling Distribution of Proportion
Sampling distribution of proportion focuses on proportions in a
population. Here, you select samples and calculate their
corresponding proportions. The means of the sample proportions
from each group represent the proportion of the entire
population.
 Sampling
distribution of proportion - 1

Sampling distribution
of proportion - 2
Formula for the sampling distribution of a proportion (often
denoted as p̂) is:
p̂ = x/n
where:
 p̂ is Sample Proportion
 x is Number of "successes" or occurrences of Event of
Interest in Sample
 n is Sample Size
This formula calculates the proportion of occurrences of a certain
event (e.g., success, positive outcome) within a sample.
T-Distribution
Sampling distribution involves a small population or a population
about which you don't know much. It is used to estimate the
mean of the population and other statistics such as confidence
intervals, statistical differences and linear regression. T-
distribution uses a t-score to evaluate data that wouldn't be
appropriate for a normal distribution.
Formula for the t-score, denoted as t, is:
t = [x - μ] / [s /√(n)]
where:
 x is Sample Mean
 μ is Population Mean (or an estimate of it)
 s is Sample Standard Deviation
 n is Sample Size
This formula calculates the difference between the sample mean
and the population mean, scaled by the standard error of the
sample mean. The t-score helps to assess whether the observed
difference between the sample and population means is
statistically significant.
Central Limit Theorem[CLT]
Central Limit Theorem is the most important theorem of
Statistics.

Cent
ral Limit Theorem
According to the central limit theorem, if X1, X2, ..., Xn is a random
sample of size n taken from a population with mean µ and
variance σ2 then the sampling distribution of the sample mean
tends to normal distribution with mean µ and variance σ 2/n as
sample size tends to large.
This formula indicates that as the sample size increases, the
spread of the sample means around the population mean
decreases, with the standard deviation of the sample means
shrinking proportionally to the square root of the sample size, and
the variate Z,
Z = (x - μ)/(σ/√n)
where,
 z is z-score
 x is Value being Standardized (either an individual data
point or the sample mean)
 μ is Population Mean
 σ is Population Standard Deviation
 n is Sample Size
This formula quantifies how many standard deviations a data
point (or sample mean) is away from the population mean.
Positive z-scores indicate values above the mean, while negative
z-scores indicate values below the mean. Follows the normal
distribution with mean 0 and variance unity, that is, the variate Z
follows standard normal distribution.
According to the central limit theorem, the sampling distribution
of the sample means tends to normal distribution as sample size
tends to large (n > 30).
Examples on Sampling Distribution
Example 1: Mean and standard deviation of the tax value of all
vehicles registered in a certain state are μ=$13,525 and
σ=$4,180. Suppose random samples of size 100 are drawn from
the population of vehicles. What are the mean μx̄ and standard
deviation σx̄ of the sample mean x̄?
Solution:
Since n = 100, the formulas yield
μx̄ = μ = $13,525
σx̄ = σ / √n = $4180 / √100
σx̄ = $418
Example 2: A prototype automotive tire has a design life of
38,500 miles with a standard deviation of 2,500 miles. Five such
tires are manufactured and tested. On the assumption that the
actual population mean is 38,500 miles and the actual population
standard deviation is 2,500 miles, find the probability that the
sample mean will be less than 36,000 miles. Assume that the
distribution of lifetimes of such tires is normal.
Solution:
Here, we will assume and use units of thousands of miles.
Then sample mean x̄ has
 Mean: μx̄ = μ = 38.5
 Standard Deviation: σx̄ = σ/√n = 2.5/√5 = 1.11803
Since the population is normally distributed, so is x̄, hence,
P (X < 36) = P(Z < {36 - μx̄ }/σx̄ )
P (X < 36) = P(Z < {36 - 38.5}/1.11803)
P (X < 36) = P(Z < -2.24)
P(X < 36) = 0.0125
Therefore, if the tires perform as designed then there is only
about a 1.25% chance that the average of a sample of this size
would be so low.

Practice Questions on Sample Distribution

Q1: Random samples of size 225 are drawn from a population
with mean 100 and standard deviation 20. Find the mean and
standard deviation of the sample mean.
Q2: Random samples of size 64 are drawn from a population with
mean 32 and standard deviation 5. Find the mean and standard
deviation of the sample mean.
Q3: A population has mean 75 and standard deviation 12.
 1. Random samples of size 121 are taken. Find the mean
and standard deviation of the sample mean.
2. How would the answers to part
3. Change if the size of the samples were 400 instead of
121?
Q4: A population has mean 5.75 and standard deviation 1.02.
1. Random samples of size 81 are taken. Find the mean and
standard deviation of the sample mean.
2. How would the answers to part
3. Change if the size of the samples were 25 instead of 81?
Q5: Numerical population of grade point averages at a college has
mean 2.61 and standard deviation 0.5. If a random sample of size
100 is taken from the population, what is the probability that the
sample mean will be between 2.51 and 2.71?
Q6: Random samples of size 1,600 are drawn from a population in
which the proportion with the characteristic of interest is 0.05.
Decide whether or not the sample size is large enough to assume
that the sample proportion is normally distributed.
Q7: Random samples of size 225 are drawn from a population in
which the proportion with the characteristic of interest is 0.25.
Decide whether or not the sample size is large enough to assume
that the sample proportion is normally distributed.
FAQs on Sampling Distribution
What are the 3 types of sampling distributions?
There are three standard types of sampling distributions in
statistics:
 Sampling Distribution of Mean
 Sampling Distribution of Proportion
 T- Distribution

What are the steps for sampling distribution?

Steps for Sampling Distribuition are,
 Step 1: Find Sample Size.
 Step 2: Determine Reference Distribution of Data.
 Step 3: Find Shape of Sampling Distribution.
 Step 4: Find Mean of Sampling Distribution.
 Step 5: Find Standard Deviation of Sampling Distribution.

What are the characteristics of sampling distribution?

Characterstics of Sampling Distributions are:
 Overall shape of distribution is symmetric and
approximately normal.
 Center of distribution is very close to true population
mean.
 There are no outliers or other important deviations from
overall pattern.