Sampling Techniques

Dr. Shaik Shaffi Ahamed Ph.D.,

Associate Professor
Department of Family & Community Medicine
College of Medicine
King Saud University
Objectives of this session:
Students able to

 (1) Understand meaning of sampling

process and its importance
 (2) Know the definations of different terms
used in the sampling process
 (3) Learn how to apply different random
sampling & non random sampling
techniques
Sampling in Epidemiology

 Why Sample?
 Unable to study all members of a population
 Reduce bias
 Save time and money
 Measurements may be better in sample than
in entire population
 Feasibility
Sampling
Sampling is the process or
technique of selecting a
sample of appropriate
characteristics and adequate
size.
 Representativeness (validity)
A sample should accurately reflect distribution of
relevant variable in population

 Person e.g. age, sex

 Place e.g. urban vs. rural
 Time e.g. seasonality

Representativeness essential to generalise

Ensure representativeness before starting,

Confirm once completed

 Sampling and representativeness

Sampling
Population
Sample

Target Population

Target Population  Sampling Population  Sample

Definitions
 Population – group of things (people)
having one or more common characteristics
 Sample – representative subgroup of the
larger population
 Used to estimate something about a population
(generalize)
 Must be similar to population on characteristic
being investigated
Population:
a set which includes all
measurements of interest
to the researcher
(The collection of all
responses, measurements, or counts
that are of interest)

Sample:
A subset of the population
 Def. – Cont.
Sampling Frame
• This is the complete list of sampling units in the
target population to be subjected to the sampling
procedure.
• Completeness and accuracy of this list is essential
for the success of the study.

Sampling Units
These are the individual units / entities that make up
the frame just as elements are entities that make up
the population.
 Def. – Cont.
Sampling Error
This arises out of random sampling and is
the discrepancies between sample values
and the population value.

Sampling Variation
 Due to infinite variations among individuals
and their surrounding conditions.
 Produce differences among samples from
the population and is due to chance.
 Example: In a clinical trail of 200 patients
we find that the efficacy of a particular drug
is 75%
If we repeat the study using the same drug
in another group of similar 200 patients we
will not get the same efficacy of 75%. It
could be 78% or 71%.
“Different results from different trails
though all of them conducted under the
same conditions”
 How to sample ?
In general, 2 requirements

1. Sampling frame must be available, otherwise

develop a sampling frame.
2. Choose an appropriate sampling method to
draw a sample from the sampling frame.
The Sampling Design Process

Define the
Population
Determine the Sampling
Frame
Select Sampling Technique(s)

Determine the Sample Size

Execute the Sampling Process

Sampling Methods
Probability Sampling Non-Probability Sampling
 Simple random sampling  Deliberate (quota)
 Stratified random sampling
sampling  Convenience sampling
 Systematic random  Purposive sampling
sampling  Snowball sampling
 Cluster (area) random  Consecutive sampling
sampling
 Multistage random
sampling
Simple Random Sampling
 Equal probability
 Techniques
 Lotterymethod
 Table of random numbers

 Advantage
 Most representative group
 Disadvantage
 Difficult to identify every member of a population
Table of random numbers

684257954125632140
582032154785962024
362333254789120325
985263017424503686
 Random Number table
1 2 3 4 5
49486 93775 88744 80091 92732
94860 36746 04571 13150 65383
10169 95685 47585 53247 60900
12018 45351 15671 23026 55344
45611 71585 61487 87434 07498
89137 30984 18842 69619 53872
94541 12057 30771 19598 96069
89920 28843 87599 30181 26839
32472 32796 15255 39636 90819
How to select a simple random
sample
1. Define the population
2. Determine the desired sample size
3. List all members of the population or the
potential subjects
 For example:
 4th grade boys who have demonstrated
problem behaviors
 Lets select 10 boys from the list
 Potential Subject Pool

1. Ahamed 11. Riyaz 21. Fahad

2. Munir 12. Yaseen 22. Iqbal
3. Khalid 13. Jaffar 23. Jabbar
4. Ameer 14. Sattar 24. Aziz
5. Junaid 15. Ghouse 25. Anwar
6. Khadeer 16. Imran 26. Shohail
7. Shaffi 17. Khaleel 27. Shohaib
8. Rafi 18. Shabu 28. Rehaman
9. Ghayas 19. Shanu 29. Naeem
10. Fayaz 20. Javid 30. Rahim
 So our selected subjects are with numbers 10, 22,
24, 15, 6, 1, 25, 11, 13, & 16.

1. Ahamed 11. Riyaz 21. Fahad

2. Munir 12. Yaseen 22. Iqbal
3. Khalid 13. Jaffar 23. Jabbar
4. Ameer 14. Sattar 24. Aziz
5. Junaid 15. Ghouse 25. Anwar
6. Khadeer 16. Imran 26. Shohail
7. Shaffi 17. Khaleel 27. Shohaib
8. Rafi 18. Shabu 28. Rehaman
9. Ghayas 19. Shanu 29. Naeem
10. Fayaz 20. Javid 30. Rahim
 Simple random sampling
 Estimate hemoglobin levels in patients with
sickle cell anemia
1. Determine sample size
2. Obtain a list of all patients with sickle cell anemia in
a hospital or clinic
3. Patient is the sampling unit
4. Use a table of random numbers to select units from
the sampling frame
5. Measure hemoglobin in all patients
6. Estimate the levels (normal & abnormal) of
hemoglobin
Systematic random Sampling
 Technique
 Use “system” to select sample (e.g., every 5th item in
alphabetized list, every 10th name in phone book)
 Advantage
 Quick, efficient, saves time and energy
 Disadvantage
 Not entirely bias free; each item does not have equal chance to
be selected
 System for selecting subjects may introduce systematic error
 Cannot generalize beyond population actually sampled
Example
 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
 All students would be assigned sequential numbers. The starting
point would be chosen by selecting a random number between 1
and 20. If this number was 9, then the 9th student on the list of
students would be selected along with every following 20th
student. The sample of students would be those corresponding to
student numbers 9, 29, 49, 69, ........ 9929, 9949, 9969 and 9989.
Systematic sampling
Stratified Random Sampling
 Technique
 Divide
population into various strata
 Randomly sample within each strata
 Sample from each strata should be proportional
 Advantage
 Better in achieving representativeness on control
variable
 Disadvantage
 Difficult to pick appropriate strata
 Difficult to Identify every member in population
Stratified Random selection for drug trail in hypertension

Mild Moderate Severe

 Sampling in Epidemiology
 Stratified random sample
 Assess dietary intake in adolescents
1. Define three age groups: 11-13, 14-16, 17-19
2. Stratify age groups by sex
3. Obtain list of children in this age range from
schools
4. Randomly select children from each of the 6
strata until sample size is obtained
5. Measure dietary intake
Cluster (Area) random sampling
 Randomly select groups (cluster) – all members
of groups are subjects
 Appropriate when
 you can’t obtain a list of the members of the
population
 have little knowledge of population characteristics
 Population is scattered over large geographic
area
 Cluster sampling
Section 1 Section 2

Section 3

Section 5

Section 4
Cluster (Area) Sampling
 Advantage
 More practical, less costly
 Conclusions should be stated in terms of
cluster (sample unit – school)
 Sample size is number of clusters
Multistage random sampling
 Stage 1
 randomly sample clusters (schools)
 Stage 2
 randomly sample individuals from the schools
selected
Sampling Methods
Probability Sampling Non-Probability Sampling
 Simple random sampling  Deliberate (quota)
 Stratified random sampling
sampling  Convenience sampling
 Systematic random  Purposive sampling
sampling  Snowball sampling
 Cluster (area) random  Consecutive sampling
sampling
 Multistage random
sampling
Deliberate (Quota) Sampling
 Similar to stratified random sampling
 Technique
 Quotas set using some characteristic of the
population thought to be relevant
 Subjects selected non-randomly to meet quotas (usu.
convenience sampling)
 Disadvantage
 selection
bias
 Cannot set quotas for all characteristics important to
study
Convenience Sampling
 “Take them where you find them” -
nonrandom
 Intact classes, volunteers, survey
respondents (low return), a typical group,
a typical person
 Disadvantage: Selection bias
Purposive Sampling
 Purposive sampling (criterion-based sampling)
 Establishcriteria necessary for being included in
study and find sample to meet criteria
 Solution: Screening
 Use random sampling to obtain a representative
sample of larger population and then those subjects
that are not members of the desired population are
screened or filtered out
 EX: want to study smokers but can’t identify all
smokers
Snowball Sampling
In snowball sampling, an initial group of respondents is
selected.

 After being interviewed, these respondents are asked

to identify others who belong to the target population
of interest.
 Subsequent respondents are selected based on the
referrals.
Consecutive sampling
Outcome of 1000 consecutive patients
presenting to the emergency room with
chest pain
Natural history of all 125 patients with
HIV-associated TB during 5 year period

Explicit efforts must be made to

identify and recruit ALL persons with
the condition of interest
Choosing probability vs. non-probability sampling
method
Probability Evaluation Criteria Non-probability
sampling sampling
Conclusive Nature of research Exploratory

Larger sampling Relative magnitude Larger non-

sampling
errors sampling vs. error
non-sampling error

High Population variability Low

[Heterogeneous] [Homogeneous]

Favorable Statistical Considerations Unfavorable

High Sophistication Needed Low

Relatively Longer Time Relatively shorter

High Budget Needed Low

Suniti Solomon et al
Prevalence and risk factors of HIV 1 and HIV 2 infection in
Urban and rural areas in TN.
TN Int. J. of STD & AIDS 1998;9:98-
103

Objective: Find prevalence and risk factors. Setting: Centres in

metropolitancity & municipality. Subjects: Individuals in Tamil nadu.
Sampling Porcedure:

“ Health camps were organised in 5 urban and 5 rural centres to cover

entire state graphically”

“ Every third person screened, in the active reproductive age group, were
recruited as a subject. At each camp the inclusion of subjects continued
until 200 persons were recruited”
Mary Sexton et al.
Sex differences in the use of asthma drugs: Cross-sectional study.
BMJ 1998; 317: 1434-7

Objective : To assess the use of asthma drugs. Design : Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Six general practices in East Anglia.
Subjects : Adults aged 20-54 with Asthma

Sampling method
“identify cases with asthma received drugs one year before – through database
from each participating practices. The sample was stratified into three
categories of severity corresponding the prescribed drugs
Bronchodilator alone (mild) 38%
Steroids (moderate) 57%
Nebulizer treatment (severe) 5%
Use SRS to select subject in each practice based on proportion of use of each
type of drug within the practice
S. Anuradha
Genital ulcer disease and acquisition of HIV infection.
Indian J Med Microbiol 1992; 10(4):265-269

Objective : To find out the association of HIV infection with genital ulcer
disease . Setting : Dept. of STD, GGH, Chennai.
Subjects : Individials attending the STD dept.

Sampling procedure

‘ Blood samples from first 20 patients were taken for analysis once a
week for 40 weeks’.

Statistical analysis : Data were analysed by using SPSS/PC + ver 4.0. The
strength of association between the variables and HIV serological status
was estimated using odds ratio (OR) and their 95% Confidence
Intervals(CI)
Reidy A et al.
Prevalence of series eye disease and visual
impairement in a north London population:
Population based, cross sectional study.
BMJ 1998; 316:1643-

Objective: To estimate eye disorders and of

visual impairement
Design: Cross-sectional survey.
Setting : General Practices in metropolitan in
England.
Subjects: aged 65 or older & registered
Sampling
17 general practice group
Procedure

Random sampling
7 were selected

People age 65 or older were registered with the

general practices. Total 750-850 in each Gen Pract

Use SRS to select eligible people in each practice

One third in each practices were selected to form survey sample

In Conclusion,
For any research, based on its study design
and objectives an appropriate random
sampling technique should be used, so as
to generalize the findings.