SAMPLING AND

GENERALIZABILITY
 CHAPTER OVERVIEW
• Populations and Samples
• Probability Sampling Strategies
• Nonprobability Sampling Strategies
• Sampling, Sample Size, and Sampling Error
 POPULATIONS AND SAMPLE
Population: refers to the entire group of people, events or things of
interest that the researcher wishes to investigate.

For instance, if the CEO of a computer firms in the Silicon Valley,

then all computer firms situated there will be the population.
If a banker is interested in investigating the savings habits of blue-
collar workers in the mining industry in the United States, then all
blue-collar workers in that industry throughout the country will
form the population.

Element: 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.
 POPULATIONS AND SAMPLE
Sample: It is a subset or representative of the population. For
example, if 200 members are drawn from a
population of 1000 blue-collar workers, these 200
members form the sample of the study.

Subject: It is a single member of the sample selected. For

instance, each blue-collar worker in the 200 member (sample)

Generalizability— the ability to infer population

characteristics based on the sample
 SAMPLING

Sampling is the process of selecting a

sufficient number of elements from the
population, so that a study of the sample
and an understanding of its properties or
characteristics would make it possible for us
to generalize such characteristics to the
population elements.
 Why Sampling?

Get information about large populations

 Less costs
 Less field time
 More accuracy i.e. Can Do A Better Job of
Data Collection
 When it’s impossible to study the whole
population
 Probability and Nonprobability sampling

 Probability sampling—the likelihood of any

member of the population being selected is
known

 Nonprobability sampling—the likelihood of

any member of the population being selected is
unknown
 Probability Sampling Strategies

 Simple Random Sampling

 Stratified Random Sampling
 Systematic Random Sampling
 Cluster Or Multistage Sampling
 Probability Sampling Strategies

 Simple Random Sampling

• where we select a group of subjects (a sample) for study
from a larger group (a population). Each individual is
chosen randomly and each member of the population has
an equal chance of being included in the sample.

• Every possible sample of a given size has the same chance of

selection; that is, each member of the population is equally likely
to be chosen at any stage in the sampling process. (Easton &
Mc Coll 2004).

• A lottery draw is a good example of simple random sampling. A

sample of 6 numbers is randomly generated from a population of
45, with each number having an equal chance of being selected.
1. Jane 18. Steve 35. Fred
2. Bill 19. Sam 36. Mike
3. Harriet 20. Marvin 37. Doug
1. Define the
4. Leni 21. Ed. T. 38. Ed M. population
5. Micah 22. Jerry 39. Tom
6. Sara 23. Chitra 40. Mike G.
2. List all members of
7. Terri 24. Clenna 41. Nathan the population
8. Joan 25. Misty 42. Peggy
3. Assign numbers to
9. Jim 26. Cindy 43. Heather
10. Terrill 27. Sy 44. Debbie
each member of
11. Susie 28. Phyllis 45. Cheryl the population
12. Nona 29. Jerry 46. Wes
13. Doug 30. Harry 47. Genna
4. Use criterion to
14. John S. 31. Dana 48. Ellie select a sample
15. Bruce A. 32. Bruce 49. Alex
M.
16. Larry 33. Daphne 50. John D.
17. Bob 34. Phil
23157 48559 01837 25993

05545 50430 10537 43508

1. Select a starting
point
14871 03650 32404 36223
2. The first two digit
38976 49751 94051 75853
number is 68 (not
97312 17618 99755 30870
used)
11742 69183 44339 47512
3. The next number,
43361 82859 11016 45623 48, is used
93806 04338 38268 04491 4. Continue until
49540 31181 08429 84187 sample is complete
36768 76233 37948 21569
• Distribution of numbers in table is random
• Members of population are listed randomly
• Selection criterion should not be related to
factor of interest!!
Those not selected
have a diagonal line
through the case (or
record) number.

There are ten

participants selected
in this example.

The example uses

SPSS, but any
capable data
analysis tool can
produce a random
sample.
 Probability Sampling Strategies

 Stratified Random Sampling

• Often factors which divide up the population into sub-
populations (groups / strata) measurement of interest may vary
among the different sub-populations.
• This has to be accounted for when we select a sample from the
population to ensure our sample is representative of the
population.
• This is achieved by stratified sampling. A stratified sample is
obtained by taking samples from each stratum or sub-group of a
population.
• Suppose a farmer wishes to work out the average milk yield of
each cow type in his herd which consists of Ayrshire, Friesian,
Galloway and Jersey cows. He could divide up his herd into the
four sub-groups and take samples from these (Easton and Mc
Coll 2004).
• The goal of sampling is to select a sample
that is representative of the population
• But suppose—
– That people in the population differ
systematically along some characteristic?
– And this characteristic relates to the factors
being studied?
• Then stratified sampling is one solution
• The characteristic(s) of interest are identified
(e.g., gender)
• The individuals in the population are listed
separately according to their classification
(e.g., females and males)
• The proportional representation of each class
is determined (e.g., 40% females & 60%
males)
• A random sample is selected that reflects the
proportions in the population(e.g., 4 females
& 6 males)
 Grade
Location 1 3 5 Total
1,200 1,200 600 3,000
Rural
[120] [120] [60] [300]

2,800 2,800 1,400 7,000

Urban
[280] [280] [140] [700]

4,000 4,000 2,000 10,000

Total
[400] [400] [200] [1000]
 Probability Sampling Strategies

 Systematic Random Sampling

• Systematic sampling, sometimes called interval sampling, means

that there is a gap, or interval, between each selection.

• Often used in industry, where an item is selected for testing from

a production line (say, every fifteen minutes) to ensure that
machines and equipment are working to specification.

• Alternatively, the manufacturer might decide to select every 20th

item on a production line to test for defects and quality. This
technique requires the first item to be selected at random as a
starting point for testing and, thereafter, every 20th item is
chosen.
 Probability Sampling Strategies

 Systematic Random Sampling

• used when questioning people in surveys eg market researcher

selecting every 10th person who enters a particular store, after
selecting a person at random as a starting point;
interviewing occupants of every 5th house in a street, after
selecting a house at random as a starting point.

• If researcher wants to select a fixed size sample. In this case, it is

first necessary to know the whole population size from which the
sample is being selected. The appropriate sampling interval, I, is
then calculated by dividing population size, N, by required sample
size, n, as follows:
• If a systematic sample of 500 students were to be carried out in a
university with an enrolled population of 10,000, the sampling
interval would be:
I = N/n = 10,000/500 =20
1. Jane 18. Steve 35. Fred
2. Bill 19. Sam 36. Mike
3. Harriet 20. Marvin 37. Doug
4. Leni 21. Ed. T. 38. Ed M.
5. Micah 22. Jerry 39. Tom
1. Divide the population
6. Sara 23. Chitra 40. Mike G. by the size of the
7. Terri 24. Clenna 41. Nathan desired sample: e.g.,
8. Joan 25. Misty 42. Peggy
9. Jim 26. Cindy 43. Heather
50/10 = 5
10. Terrill 27. Sy 44. Debbie
2. Select a starting point
11. Susie 28. Phyllis 45. Cheryl
12. Nona 29. Jerry 46. Wes
at random: e.g., 43 =
13. Doug 30. Harry 47. Genna Heather
14. John S. 31. Dana 48. Ellie
15. Bruce A. 32. Bruce 49. Alex
3. Select every 5th name
M. from the starting point
16. Larry 33. Daphne 50. John D.
17. Bob 34. Phil
 Probability Sampling Strategies

 Cluster Or Multistage Sampling

• Cluster sampling is a sampling technique where the entire

population is divided into groups, or clusters, and a random
sample of these clusters are selected. All observations in the
selected clusters are included in the sample.

• every element should have a specified (equal) chance of being

selected into the final sample.

• typically used when the researcher cannot get a complete list of

the members of a population they wish to study but can get a
complete list of groups or 'clusters' of the population

• Cheap, easy economical method of data collection.

 Non-Probability Sampling Strategies

• Convenience/ opportunity/accidental
sampling.
• Purposive/ judgemental sampling
• Quota sampling
• Snowball sampling
 Non-Probability Sampling Strategies

 Convenience Sampling

• volunteer samples
• Sometimes access through contacts or
gatekeepers
• ‘easy to reach’ population.
 Non-Probability Sampling Strategies

 Purposive/ judgemental sampling

• Involves selecting a group of people
because they have particular traits that the
researcher wants to study
• e.g. consumers of a particular product or
service in some types of market research
• My own questionnaire research on ‘New-
Age’ Travellers.
 Non-Probability Sampling Strategies

 Quota sampling
• widely used in opinion polls and market
research.
• Interviewers given a quota of subjects of
specified type to attempt to recruit.
• eg. an interviewer might be told to go out
and select 20 male smokers and 20 female
smokers so that they could interview them
about their health and smoking behaviours
• Sampling error = difference between
sample and population characteristics
• Reducing sampling error is the goal of
any sampling technique
• As sample size increases, sampling
error decreases
• The goal is to select a representative
sample—
– Larger samples are usually more
representative
– But larger samples are also more expensive
– And larger samples ignore the power of
scientific inference
• Generally, larger samples are needed when
– Variability within each group is great
– Differences between groups are smaller

• Because
– As a group becomes more diverse, more data
points are needed to represent the group
– As the difference between groups becomes
smaller, more participants are needed to reach
“critical mass” to detect the difference
• Apply the following concepts?
–Population
–Sample
–Random
–Generalization (generalizability)

• Differentiate between probability and

nonprobability sampling techniques?
• Identify four (4) probability sampling
strategies?
–Simple Random Sampling
–Systematic Sampling
–Stratified Sampling
–Cluster Sampling
• Identify two (2) nonprobability sampling
strategies?
– Convenience Sampling
– Quota Sampling
• Explain sampling error?
–List ways researchers can reduce
sampling error
–Summarize the effect of sample size on
sampling error