Sampling Methods

♣ Sampling involves the selection of a

number of study units from a defined study
population.

♣ The population is too large for us to

consider collecting information from all its
members.

♣ Instead we select a sample of individuals

hoping that the sample is representative of
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the population.
When taking a sample, we will be confronted
with the following questions:

• What is the group of people from which we

want to draw a sample?

• How many people do we need in our sample?

• How will these people be selected?

• What are the errors to be confronted with

when taking a random sample?
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 Definitions
Target population (reference population or source population): Is that
population about which an investigator wishes to draw a conclusion.

Study population: the population included in the sample

Sampling unit: The unit of selection in the sampling process. For example, in a
sample of districts, the sampling unit is a district; in a sample of persons, a person,
etc.

Study unit: The unit on which the observations will be collected. For example, persons
in a study of disease prevalence, or households, in a study of family size. N.B. The
sampling unit is not necessarily the same as the study unit.

Sampling frame: The list of units from which the sample is to be selected. The
existence of an adequate and up-to-date sampling frame often defines the study
population.

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 I) What is a defined
population?
♣ The problem of obtaining a sample which is representative of a
larger population needs special attention.

♣ The population under consideration should be clearly defined.

♣ It is only after having such a clearly defined population (i.e., in terms

of geographical area, type of study subjects, etc. ) that the selection
of the random sample could take place

♣ What are the main reasons for the necessity of such “clear
definitions of the population”?

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 II) How are the study subjects
selected?

♣ An important issue influencing the choice

of the most appropriate sampling method is
whether a sampling frame is available (can
be maintained), that is, a listing of all the
units that compose the population.

♣ Two broad areas: Non-probability sampling

method and probability sampling method
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 Sampling methods
♣ Non-probability sampling methods - used when a
sampling frame does not exist

Examples:
• Convenience sampling
• Quota sampling

• These sampling methods do not claim to be

representative of the entire population.

When do you use these techniques?

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b) Probability sampling methods
♣ They involve random selection
procedures to ensure that each unit of the
sample is chosen on the basis of chance.
All units of the population should have an
equal or at least a known chance of being
included in the sample.

♣ Sample findings can be generalized

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b) Probability sampling methods

1. Simple Random Sampling

2. Systematic Sampling
3. Stratified sampling
4. Cluster sampling (all selected clusters will be considered –
take care of clustering effect)

5. Multi-Stage Sampling (consider the design effect)

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 Simple random sampling (SRS)

 This is the most basic scheme of random

sampling.

 Each unit in the sampling frame has an equal

chance of being selected

Representativeness of the sample is ensured.

 However, it is costly to conduct SRS. Moreover,

minority subgroups of interest in the population
my not be present in the sample in sufficient
numbers for study.
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 Simple random sampling (SRS)

To select a simple random sample you need to:

 Make a numbered list of all the units in the
population from which you want to draw a sample.
 Each unit on the list should be numbered in
sequence from 1 to N (where N is the size of the
population)
 Decide on the size of the sample
 Select the required number of study units, using a
“lottery” method or a table of random numbers.

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 Simple random sampling
Lottery method : for a small population it may be
possible to use the “lottery” method: each unit in the
population is represented by a slip of paper, these are
put in a box and mixed, and a sample of the required
size is drawn from the box.

Table of random numbers: if there are many units,

however, the above technique soon becomes laborious.
Selection of the units is greatly facilitated and made
more accurate by using a set of random numbers in
which a large number of digits is set out in random order.

The property of a table of random numbers is that,

whichever way it is read, vertically in columns or
horizontally in rows, the order of the digits is random.
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 Systematic Sampling
 Individuals are chosen at regular intervals ( for
example, every kth) from the sampling frame.

 The first unit to be selected is taken at random

from among the first k units.

For example, a systematic sample is to be

selected from 1200 students of a school. The
sample size is decided to be 100. The sampling
fraction is: 100 /1200 = 1/12.

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 Systematic Sampling
 The number of the first student to be included in
the sample is chosen randomly, for example by
blindly picking one out of twelve pieces of paper,
numbered 1 to 12.

 If number 6 is picked, every twelfth student will be

included in the sample, starting with student
number 6, until 100 students are selected.

 The numbers selected would be 6,18,30,42,etc.

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 Systematic Sampling

Merits
 Systematic sampling is usually less time consuming
and easier to perform than simple random sampling.
It provides a good approximation to SRS.

 Unlike SRS, systematic sampling can be conducted

without a sampling frame (useful in some situations
where a sampling frame is not readily available).

E.g. In patients attending a health center, where it is

not possible to predict in advance who will be
attending.
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 Systematic Sampling

Demerits
 If there is any sort of cyclic pattern in the ordering of the
subjects which coincides with the sampling interval, the
sample will not be representative of the population.

Example:
- list of married couples arranged with men's names
alternatively with the women's names will result in a
sample of all men or women.

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 Stratified Sampling:
 Appropriate when the distribution of the characteristic to be
studied is strongly affected by certain variable
(heterogeneous population).

 The population is first divided into groups (strata) according

to a characteristic of interest (eg., geographic area,
prevalence of disease, etc.)

 A separate sample is taken independently from each stratum,

by simple random or systematic sampling.

 proportional allocation - if the same sampling fraction is

used for each stratum.
 non- proportional allocation - if a different sampling fraction
is used for each stratum or if the strata are unequal in size
and a fixed number of units is selected from each stratum.
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 Stratified Sampling:
Merit
- The representativeness of the sample is
improved. That is, adequate representation of
minority subgroups of interest can be ensured
by stratification and by varying the sampling
fraction between strata as required.

Demerit
- sampling frame for the entire population has
to be prepared separately for each stratum.
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 Cluster sampling
 The selection of groups of study units (clusters) instead
of the selection of study units individually

 The sampling unit is a cluster, and the sampling frame is

a list of these clusters.

 Procedure - the reference population (homogeneous) is

divided into clusters. These clusters are
often geographic units (e.g. districts,
villages, etc.).

- a sample of such clusters is selected

- all the units in the selected clusters are studied.

 It is preferable to select a large number of small clusters

rather than a small number of large clusters. 18
 Cluster sampling

Merit - A list of all the individual study units in the

reference population is not required. It is sufficient to
have a list of clusters.

Demerit - It is based on the assumption that the

characteristic to be studied is uniformly distributed
throughout the reference population, which may not
always be the case.

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 Multi-stage sampling
 This method is appropriate when the reference
population is large and widely scattered.

 Selection is done in stages until the final sampling

unit (eg., households or persons) are arrived at.

 The primary sampling unit (PSU) is the sampling unit

(usually large size) in the first sampling stage.

 The secondary sampling unit (SSU) is the sampling

unit in the second sampling stage.
 etc.

Example - The PSUs could be kebeles and the SSUs

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could be households.
 Multi-stage sampling
Merit - Cuts the cost of preparing sampling frame
Demerit - Sampling error is increased compared
with a simple random sample.

• Multistage sampling gives less precise

estimates than simple random sampling for
the same sample size, but the reduction in
cost usually far outweighs this, and allows for
a larger sample size.

• That is, a design effect need to be considered.

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 III) What are the errors to be confronted with
when taking a random sample?

♣ When we take a sample, our results will

not exactly equal the correct results for the
whole population. That is, our results will
be subject to errors. This error has two
components.

a) Sampling error (i.e., random error)

b) Non Sampling error (i.e., bias)
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 Sampling error (i.e., random error)

• Random error consists of random

deviations from the true value, which can
occur in any direction.

• Sampling error (random error) can be

minimized by increasing the size of the
sample.

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 Non Sampling error (i.e., bias)

• Bias consists of systematic deviations

from the true value, always in the same
direction

• It is possible to eliminate or reduce the

non-sampling error (bias) by careful
design of the sampling procedure and by
taking care of the errors that may arise
during data analysis.
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 Examples of types of bias in
sampling include:
♣ Bias resulting from incompleteness of the sampling frame:
accessibility bias, seasonability bias, self-reporting bias,
volunteer bias, non-response bias etc.

♣ Non-response bias refers to failure to obtain information on

some of the subjects included in the sample to be studied. It
results in significant bias when the following two situations
are both fulfilled.

• When non-respondents constitute a significant proportion of the sample.

• When non-respondents differ significantly from respondents.

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 Non-response
a) Non-response should be kept to a minimum.
E.g. below 15%

b) The number of non-responses should be

documented according to type, so as to facilitate
an assessment of the extent of bias introduced
by non-response.

c) As much information as possible should be

collected on non-respondents, so as to see in
what ways they may differ from respondents.

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 Conclusion
• Bias, like chance (random error) and
confounding, should always be considered as
a possible alternative explanation of any
observed statistical association, whether
positive, inverse or null.

• Unlike chance and confounding, which can be

taken into account in the analysis through the
use of appropriate statistical techniques, bias
is most effectively dealt with through
careful design and meticulous conduct of a
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study.
 Exercises

In a school there are about 1520 students and

the investigator wants to determine the
prevalence of a certain character (eg., KAP on
HIV/AIDS) by taking 424 students. The
following table gives the distribution of students
by type of grade and number of sections.

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 Exercise
Grade Number of sections Number of students

9 8 520
10 7 420
11 6 330
12 5 250

Total 26 1520
a) What type of sampling technique do you use? Why?
b) How do you select the subjects who will be included in your sample?
c) The study is about KAP of HIV/AIDS. What are the considerations to
be taken into account when calculating the sample size(s). 29