Sampling Detectives: Guess the Method!
An Engaging Classroom Activity on Probability and
Non-Probability Sampling
Instructions: Walk around the classroom to read each situation card. Work with your group to
analyze the case and record your answer on the Detective Log Sheet. Your mission is to identify
the sampling method used in each case. Be ready to explain why!
Situation Cards
Situation 1: The school wants to know students’ favorite subject. All 500 names are placed in a
box, and 50 are drawn randomly.
Situation 2: A teacher assigns each student a number, then uses a random number generator to
pick 10 students for a survey.
Situation 3: A school wants to study study habits. Students are grouped by grade level, and a
random sample is chosen from each grade.
Situation 4: To know opinions on uniforms, the population is divided by gender, then a random
sample is taken from each group.
Situation 5: The librarian surveys every 5th student who enters the library until 30 are surveyed.
Situation 6: During enrollment, the registrar picks every 10th student on the list to ask about the
process.
Situation 7: The principal wants feedback from students. She randomly selects 3 whole classes
and surveys everyone in those classes.
Situation 8: A researcher selects 2 school clubs at random and surveys all members of those
clubs.
Situation 9: A district randomly selects 4 schools, then randomly selects 30 students from each
chosen school.
Situation 10: From a province, 3 municipalities are chosen randomly, then 2 barangays from each
are sampled randomly.
Situation 11: The guidance counselor surveys students who are already in the library because they
are easy to reach.
Situation 12: A teacher collects opinions from students in her class because they are the most
accessible.
Situation 13: A survey requires 20 boys and 20 girls. The researcher stops asking once the quota
for each group is filled.
Situation 14: An interviewer is told to get 10 participants from each grade level. They stop once the
quota is reached.
Situation 15: The researcher interviews only honor students to study effective study habits.
Situation 16: To evaluate leadership, the teacher surveys only student leaders.
Situation 17: A researcher starts with 3 student leaders, who then recommend other student
leaders to include in the study.
Situation 18: An alumnus is interviewed and then asked to refer classmates to also join the study.
Situation 19: The teacher selects students she thinks are most knowledgeable about technology
for a survey.
Situation 20: A coach chooses athletes he believes best represent the team for an interview.
Detective Log Sheet
Situation No. Sampling MethodProbability / Non-Probability Reason (Why) Advantage Disadvantage
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20