CHAPTER FOUR

SAMPLING DESIGN
Sampling Design

 A sample is “a smaller (but hopefully representative)

collection of units from a population used to determine
truths about that population

 Sampling is the process of selecting a number of study units

from a defined study population.
 It aims at obtaining consistent and unbiased estimates of the
population parameters.
• There are two principles underlying any sample
design:
– The need to avoid bias in the selection procedure
– The need to gain maximum precision/accuracy.
• Bias can arise:
• if the selection of the sample is done by some non-
random method i.e. selection is consciously or
unconsciously influenced by human choice
• if the sampling frame (i.e. list, index, population
record) does not adequately cover the target
population.
 Population: The population refers to the entire group of
people, events, or things of interest that the researcher
wishes to investigate.
 It is the group of people, events, or things of interest for which
the researcher wants to make inferences (based on sample
statistics).
 For instance, if the CEO of a computer firm wants to know the
kinds of advertising strategies adopted by computer firms in
the Addis Abeba, then all computer firms situated there will
be the population.
 Element: An element is a single member of the population.
If 1000 blue‐collar workers in a particular organization
happen to be the population of interest to a researcher, each
blue‐collar worker therein is an element.
 Sample: A sample is a subset of the population.
It comprises some members selected from it.
 In other words, some, but not all, elements of the
population form the sample.

 If 200 members are drawn from a population of 1000

blue-collar workers, these 200 members form the
sample for the study. That is, from a study of these
200 members, the researcher will draw conclusions
about the entire population of 1000 blue‐collar
workers.
 Con’t…
Generally;
Population:
a complete set of elements (persons or objects)
that possess some common characteristic
defined by the sampling criteria
established by the researcher.

Sample:
A subset of the population
Con’t….
 A sample design is a definite plan for obtaining a
sample from a given population.
 It refers to the technique or the procedure the researcher
would adopt in selecting items for the sample.

 While developing a sampling design, the researcher

must pay attention to the following points:
Con’t…
• i). Type of universe: The first step in developing
any sample design is to clearly define the set of
objects, technically called the Universe, to be
studied.
• The universe can be finite or infinite. In finite
universe the number of items is certain, but in case
of an infinite universe the number of items is
infinite, i.e., we cannot have any idea about the
total number of items.
Con’t…
• The population of a city, the number of workers in
a factory and the like are examples of finite universes,
whereas the number of stars in the sky, are examples
of infinite universes.
ii. Sampling Unit: A decision has to be taken concerning
a sampling unit before selecting sample.
• Sampling unit may be a geographical one such as state,
district, village, etc., or it may be a social unit such as
family, club, school, etc., or it may be an individual.
• The researcher will have to decide one or more of such
units that he has to select for his study.
Con’t….
iii. Size of sample: This refers to the number of items to
be selected from the universe to constitute a sample.
• The size of sample should neither be excessively large,
nor too small. It should be optimum.
• An optimum sample is one which fulfills the
requirements of representativeness and reliability.
iv. Sampling procedure: Finally, the researcher must
decide the type of sample he will use i.e., he must
decide about the technique to be used in selecting the
items for the sample.
The Sampling Design Process

Define the
Population/universe

Determine the Sampling Frame

Select Sampling Technique(s)

Determine the Sample Size

Execute the Sampling Process

Steps in Sampling Design
• The critical steps in sampling are:
• a) Identifying the relevant population:
• Population – A group that includes all the cases
(individuals, objects, or groups) in which the researcher
is interested.
• b) Determining the method of sampling:
• Whether a probability sampling procedure or a
non-probability sampling procedure has to be
used is also very important.
• c) Securing a sampling frame:
• A list of all elements from which the sample is
actually drawn is important and necessary.
• d) Identifying parameters of interest:
• what specific population characteristics (variables
and attributes) may be of interest.
• e) Determining the sample size
• The determination of the sample size depends on
several factors.
• i) Degree of homogeneity: The size of the
population variance is the single most important
parameter.
• The greater the dispersion in the population the
larger the sample must be to provide a given
estimation precession.
• ii) Degree of confidence required: Since a sample can
never reflect its population for certain, the researcher
must determine how much precision s/he needs.
• iii) Number of sub groups to be studied:
• When the researcher is interested in making
estimates concerning various subgroups of the
population then the sample must be large enough
for each of these subgroups to meet the desired
quality level.
Con’t….
 iv) Cost: cost considerations have major impact on
decisions about the size and type of sample.
• All studies have some budgetary constraint and hence cost
dictates the size of the sample.
 Major Reasons for sample
 Why Sample?
 1) Resource Limitations (Time and Cost):
 Studying every single instance of a thing is impractical or too
expensive
 2) Superior Quality of Results:
Obtain in-depth information about each subject
rather than superficial data on all.
 3) Destructive nature of some tests:
 Sampling remains the only choice when a test involves
the destruction of the items under study.
 Example: testing the quality of a commodity (beer,
cigarette, coffee, etc.)
 To determine the sample size:
 1. Use prior information: This can be done by using
prior mean and variance estimates and by stratifying the
population to reduce variation within groups.
 2. Rule of Thumb: are based on past experience with
samples that have met the requirements of the
statistical methods.
 3. Practicality: Of course the sample size you select
must make sense.
 We want to take enough observations to obtain
reasonably precise estimates of the parameters of
interest but we also want to do this within a
practical resource budget.
 Hence:
• For small populations (under 1000 a researcher needs a
large sampling ratio (about 30%). Hence, a sample size of
about 300 is required for a high degree of accuracy.
• For moderately large population (10,000), a smaller
sampling ratio (about 10%) is needed – a sample size
around 1,000.
• To sample from very large population (over 10 million), one
can achieve accuracy using tiny sampling ratios (.025%) or
samples of about 2,500.
• These are approximates sizes, and practical limitations (e.g.
cost) also play a role in a researcher’s decision about sample
size.
 Classification of Sampling Techniques
Sampling Techniques

Non-probability
Probability
Sampling Techniques
Sampling Techniques

Convenience Judgment Quota Snowball

Sampling Samples Sampling Sampling

Simple random Systematic Stratified Cluster

Sampling Sampling Sampling Sampling
 Types of Sampling Technique(s)
A. Probability (Random)Sampling: each member of the
population has a known non-zero probability of being
selected.
• It uses a random selection procedures to ensure that each unit
of the sample is chosen on the basis of chance.
• A randomization process is used in order to reduce or
eliminate sampling bias.
• A sample will be representative of the population from which
it is drawn if all members of the population have an equal
chance of being included in the sample.

20
Con’t…
 The Probability (random) sampling include methods:
 Simple Random Sampling
 Systematic random sampling
 Stratified random sampling
 Proportionate
 Dis-portionate
 Multistage sampling
 Cluster (or Area )sampling
• 1. Simple Random Sampling (SRS)
– The SRS is the simplest and easiest method of
probability sampling.
– It is the sampling procedure in which each
element of the population has an equal chance of
being selected into the sample.
– It assumes that an accurate sampling frame exists.
– Usually two methods are adopted to pick a
sample.
•The lottery method
•Table of random number:
Probability of Selection = Size of sample/Size of Population
Probability of Sample=n/N
Example: Sample of 1500 from a population of 10,000 =15% chance of being
selected
 Advantages
Easy small population
Unbiased estimates of population’s characteristics
Disadvantages
Difficult to obtain complete listing of the target population elements
• Simple Random Sampling (SRS) requires a listing of the
entire population of interest. This may not be possible
for national surveys.
• It is too expensive to interview a national face to face
sample based on SRS.
• So, the SRS can only be applied in situation where the
population size is small.
 2. Systematic Sampling
• Systematic Random Sampling – A method of sampling in
which every Kth member (K is a ration obtained by dividing
the population size by the desired sample size) in the total
population is chosen for inclusion in the sample after the first
member of the sample is selected at random from among the
first K members of the population.
• After the required sample size has been calculated,
every Kth record is selected from a list of population
members.
• In SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING individuals are chosen at
regular intervals (for example every fifth) from the sampling
frame.
– Under systematic sampling procedures, instead of a list of
random number the researcher calculates a sampling
interval.
– The major advantages of SS are its simplicity.
Can't…
Systematic Random Sampling (SYMRS)
Skip interval = defined target population list size/
desired sample size
• Example: If we wanted a sample of 35 households from a
total population of 260 houses in a particular locality, then
we could sample every seventh house starting from a
random number from 1 to 7. Let us say that the random
number was 7, then houses numbered 7, 14, 21, 28, and so
on, would be sampled until the 35 houses were selected.
3. Stratified Random Sampling
• Stratified Random Sampling, as its name implies,
involves a process of stratification or segregation,
followed by random selection of subjects from each
stratum.

• The stratified sampling technique is particularly

useful when we have heterogeneous populations.

• After a population is divided into the appropriate

strata a simple random sample can be taken either
using the Systematic Random Sampling (SRS) or the
Systematic Sampling (SS) techniques from each
stratum.
Con’t…
• Generally;
• Stratifying customers on the basis of life stages,
income levels, and the like to study buying patterns
and stratifying companies according to size,
industry, profits.
 Stratified Sampling

Stratified sampling is where we are grouping elements that share

certain characteristics, (H groups, called strata) and then take a
proportional random sample from each. Variables often used
include: age, gender, geographic region, or type of games used
 4. Cluster Sampling (Area Sampling) :
• The selection of groups of study units (clusters) instead of
the selection of study units individually is called CLUSTER
SAMPLING.
– A probability sampling procedure that involves
randomly selecting clusters of elements from a
population and subsequently selecting every element in
each selected cluster for inclusion in the sample.

• The cost to reach a sample element is very high and

cluster sampling reduces cost by concentrating surveys in
selected clusters.
 CLUSTER SAMPLING…….
Two types of cluster sampling methods:
One-stage sampling. All of the elements within
selected clusters are included in the sample.
Two-stage sampling. A subset of elements within
selected clusters are randomly selected for inclusion in
the sample.
• First stage a sample of areas is chosen-randomly select X
number of clusters.
• Second stage a sample of respondents within those areas is
selected.
• Population divided into clusters of homogeneous units,
usually based on geographical contiguity (Closeness).
30
Con’t….

Advantages of Disadvantages of
probability samples probability samples
- The researcher can be sure - They are more expensive than
of obtaining information from non-probability samples of the
a representative cross section
of the population of interest. sample size in most cases.
The rules for selection increase
interviewing costs and professional
- The survey results are
projectable to the total time must be spent in developing
population. the sample design.

- Probability samples take more time

to design and execute than non-
probability samples.
Con’t….
Non-Probability Sampling:
 Non-probability Sampling: members are selected from the
population in some non-random manner.

 Any sampling method where some elements of population have

no chance of selection (these are sometimes referred to as
'out of coverage'/'under covered'), or where the
probability of selection can't be accurately determined.

 It involves the selection of elements based on assumptions

regarding the population of interest, which forms the
criteria for selection.
Con’t…
 Non-Probability Sampling includes:
 Convenience sampling (Convenient Sampling)
 Purposive sampling (Judgmental Sampling )
 Quota Sampling
 Snowball Sampling
 1. CONVENIENCE SAMPLING
• Sometimes known as grab or opportunity sampling or
accidental or haphazard sampling.

• A type of non-probability sampling which involves the

sample being drawn from that part of the population which
is close to hand. That is, readily available and convenient.

• The researcher using such a sample cannot scientifically

make generalizations about the total population from this
sample because it would not be representative enough.

• This method selects anyone who is convenient.

• It can produce ineffective, highly un-representative
samples and is not recommended.

34
Con’t…
 Such samples are cheap, however, biased.
 Example: the person on the street interview conducted
by television programs is an example of a convenient
sample.
(2) Purposive or Judgment sampling
• Purposive Sampling
– A non-probability sampling procedure that involves
selecting elements based on a researcher's judgment
about which elements will facilitate his or her
investigation
• Purposive sampling occurs when one draws a non-
probability sample based on certain criteria.
• It uses the judgment of the expert in selecting cases.
• The researcher chooses the sample based on
who they think would be appropriate for the
study.
(3) Quota Sampling
• Quota sampling is the non-probability 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.
• A researcher first identifies categories of people (e.g.,
male, female) then decides how many to get from
each category.
• The major limitation of this method is the absence of
an element of randomization.
 (4) Snowball (Network) Sampling
 This is a method for identifying and sampling (or selecting)
the cases in a network.
 Snowball sampling is based on an analogy to a
snowball, which begins small but becomes larger
as it is rolled on wet snow and pick up additional
snow.
 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.
You start with one or two information-rich key
informants and ask them if they know persons
who know a lot about your topic of interest.
Con’t…
Advantages of non- Disadvantages of non-
probability samples probability samples
- Non-probability samples cost less
than probability samples. This - The researcher does not know the
characteristic of non-probability degree to which the sample is
samples may have considerable representative of the population
appeal in those situations where from which it was drawn.
accuracy is not of critical
importance. - The results of non-probability
samples cannot and should not be
-Non-probability samples projected to the total population.
ordinarily can be conducted more
quickly than probability samples.
Chapter End!!