RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
LESSON 13:
SAMPLING ISSUES IN RESEARCH
Students, today we shall be doing various issues in sampling .
To understand it better it is necessary that we do certain related
terms first.
When we are doing certain investigation the interest lies in the
assessment of the general magnitude and the study of variation
with respect to one or more characteristics relating to individuals
belonging to a group
Population
This group of individuals is called population or universe.Thus
we can define population as any entire collection of people, animals,
plants or things on which we may collect data. It is the entire
group of interest, which we wish to describe or about which we
wish to draw conclusions.
It is impractical for an investigator to completely enumerate the
whole population for any statistical investigation. For example, if
we want to have an idea about the average montly income of
people residing in India, we will have to enumerate all the earning
individuals in the country, which is rather a very difficult task.
Also, when population is large infinite) or if units are destroyed
during investigation it is not possible to enumerate or investigate
whole population. But even if population is finite 100% inspection
is not possible because of various factors like time, money and
administrative convenience.
Sampling
Sampling is the selection of part of an aggregate or totality known
as population, on the basis of which a decision concerning the
population is made.
Thus, we can say that a finite subset of statistical individuals in a
population is called a sample and the number of individuals in a
sample is called sample size.
Sampling Unit
A unit is a person, animal, plant or thing which is actually studied
by a researcher; the basic objects upon which the study or
experiment is executed. For example, a person; a sample of soil; a
pot of seedlings; a zip code area; a doctor’s practice.
Activity
Define population and sampling unit in each of the following
problems
1. Popularity of family planning among families having more
than two children _____________
2. Election for a political office with adult
franchise__________
3. Measurement of the volume of timber available in a forest
_______________________
4. Annual yield of apple fruit in a hilly district.______
5. Study of child mortality rate in a district
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Parameter and Statistic
A parameter is an unknown value, and therefore it has to be
estimated.Parameters are used to represent a certain population
characteristic. For example, the population mean m is a parameter
that is often used to indicate the average value of a quantity.
Within a population, a parameter is a fixed value that does not
vary.Each sample drawn from the population has its own value
of any statistic that is used to estimate this parameter. For example,
the mean of the data in a sample is used to give information
about the overall mean min the population from which that sample
was drawn.
A statistic is a quantity that is calculated from a sample of data.It
is used to give information about unknown values in the
corresponding population.
For example, the average of the data in a sample is used to give
information about the overall average in the population from
which that sample was drawn.
A statistic is a function of an observable random sample. It is
therefore an observable random variable.
Statistics are often assigned Roman letters (e.g. and s), whereas
the equivalent unknown values in the population ( parameters )
are assigned Greek letters (e.g., µ, s).
Variables
A characteristic or phenomenon, which may take different values,
such as weight, gender since they are different from individual to
individual.
Any object or event, which can vary in successive observations
either in quantity or quality is called a “variable.”Variables are
classified accordingly as quantitative or qualitative.
A qualitative variable, does not vary in magnitude in successive
observations. The values of quantitative called “Attributes”.A
quantitative variable does vary in magnitude in successive
observations. The values of quantitative are called “Variates”
Variable
Randomness
Randomness means unpredictability
The fascinating fact about inferential statistics is that, although
each random observation may not be predictable when taken alone,
collectively they follow a predictable pattern called its distribution
function.
For example, it is a fact that the distribution of a sample average
follows a normal distribution for sample size over 30. In other
words, an extreme value of the sample mean is less likely than an
extreme value of a few raw data.
Desirable Characteristics of Sample Statistics
1. Unbiased:If the arithmetic mean of the statistic calculated for
all possible samples of a given size n exactly equals its
population parameter.
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 2. Sufficient:Summarizes all relevant information about the parent Example of the creation of a sampling distribution
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

population contained in the sample, while ignoring any sample- Six rocks were extracted from my team and each was weighed,
specific information. labeled, and put in a bag. This forms the population from which
3. Efficient:The more the statistic values for various samples I can draw samples.
cluster around the true parameter value, the lower the sampling Suppose, I want to construct a sampling distribution of the
error and the greater the efficiency. Consider an archer shooting mean weight of 3 rocks from the population of 6. To do this, I
at a target. The archer wants to be accurate, but also wants the must enumerate all samples of size 3 which can be drawn from a
arrows to cluster as closely to the centre of the target as possible. population of size 6 (there are 20 in total) and compute the mean
4. Consistent:The larger the sample size, the closer the statistic of each.
should be to its parameter value.Every statistic in a sample The frequency distribution I can create from these 20 numbers is
might have a different sampling distribution the sampling distribution I want. Below is the table I would use
to create this distribution, and below that is the actual sampling
distribution.
Example
Creation of a Sampling Distribution
Rock ID 1 2 3 4 5 6
Weight (g) 11.24 13.48 16.9 24.28 20.89
Sampling Distribution 10.43 Sample Means
The sampling distribution is a hypothetical device that figuratively Sample 11 1 1 0 0 0
represents the distribution of a statistic (some number you’ve 13.87
obtained from your sample) across an infinite number of samples.
Sample 21 1 0 1 0 0
You have to remember than your sample is just one of a potentially 17.47
infinite number of samples that could have been drawn.While it’s
Sample 31 0 1 1 0 0
very likely that any statistics you generate from your sample would
16.33
be near the center of the sampling distribution, just by luck of the
draw, the researcher normally wants to find out exactly where the Sample 40 1 1 1 0 0
center of this sampling distribution is. 18.22
That’s because the center of the sampling distribution represents Sample 51 1 0 0 1 0
the best estimate of the population average, and the population 15.20
is what you want to make inferences to. Sample 61 0 1 0 1 0
The average of the sampling distribution is the population 16.34
parameter, and inference is all about making generalizations from Sample 70 1 1 0 1 0
statistics (sample) to parameters (population). 17.09
You can use some of the information you’ve collected thus far to Sample 81 0 0 1 1 0
calculate the sampling distribution, or more accurately, the 18.80
sampling error. Sample 90 1 0 1 1 0
In statistics, any standard deviation of a sampling distribution is 19.55
referred to as the standard error (to keep it separate in our minds Sample 10 0 0 1 1 1
from standard deviation).In sampling, the standard error is referred 0 20.69
to as sampling error.
Sample 11 1 1 0 0 0
Definitions are as Follows 1 11.72
• Standard deviation-the spread of scores around the average in Sample 12 1 0 1 0 0
a single sample· Standard error- the spread of averages around 1 12.86
the average of averages in a hypothetical sampling Sample 13 0 1 1 0 0
distribution.You never actually see the sampling distribution. 1 13.60
All you have to work with is the standard deviation of your Sample 14 1 0 0 1 0
sample. The greater your standard deviation, the greater the 1 15.32
standard error (and your sampling error).
Sample 15 0 1 0 1 0
The standard error (this term was first used by Yule, 1897) is the 1 16.06
standard deviation of a mean and is computed as:
Sample 16 0 0 1 1 0
Standard Error= (s2/n)1/2,where ,s2 is the sample variance, n is 1 17.20
the sample size.
Sample 17 1 0 0 0 1
Let us illustration the sampling distribution, it will make the topic 1 14.19
very clear.

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80 11.556
Sample 18 0 1 0 0 1 Sampling Errors

1 14.93
Sample 19 0 0 1 0 1 only a part of the population is used to estimate the population
1 16.07
Sample 20 0 0 0 1 1
1 18.53
The Sampling Distribution
Bin >11, <=13 >13, <=15 >15, <=17
>17, <=19 >19, <=21
Frequency 2 4 6 6 2 results.This bias can be overcome by adhering to Simple Random
Relation between Standard Error and Sample Size
Standard error is also related to sample size. The larger your sample,
the smaller the standard error.
You’re not reducing bias or anything by increasing sample size,
only coming closer to the total number in the population.
Validity and sampling error are somewhat similar. However, you
can estimate population parameters from even small samples.
Principles of Sample Survey
The theory of sampling is based on the following important
principles:
1. Principle of statistical regularity
2. Principle of validity
3. Principle of optimization
1. Principle of statistical regularity stresses the desirability
and importance of selecting a sample at random so that each
and every unit in the population has an equal chance of
being selected in the sample.
We get an immediate derivation from this principle is the
principle of Inertia of large numbers which states that
“Other things being equal as the sample size increases, the
results tend to be more reliable and accurate.”
For example , in a coin tossing experiment, the results will be
approximately 50% heads and 50% tails provided we
perform the experiment a fairly large number of times.
2. Principle of validity means the sample design should
enable us to obtain valid tests and estimates about the
parameters of the population. The samples obtained by the
technique of probability sampling satisfy this principle.
3. Principle of optimization impresses upon obtaining
optimum results in terms of efficiency and cost of the
design with the resources at disposal. The reciprocal of the
sampling variance of an estimate provides a measure of its
efficiency while a measure of cost of the design is provided
by the total expenses incurred in terms of money and man
hour.
The principle of optimization consists in
a. achieving a given level of efficiency at minimum cost
b. obtaining maximum possible efficiency with given level of
cost.
Sampling and Non-sampling Error
We can classify broadly the errors involved in the process of research
into two heads: Sampling Errors and Non-Sampling Errors
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
These have the origin in sampling and arise out of the fact that
parameters and draw inferences about the population. Therefore,
sampling errors are absent in complete enumeration. The sampling
errors are basically because of following reasons:
a. Faulty selection of sample:
If you use a defective technique for selecting a sample, e.g
purposive or judgement sampling in which the investigator
deliberately chooses the sample in order to deduce the desired
Sampling.
b.Substitution:If you substitute one unit for another if some
difficulty arises in studying that particular unit (first one), this
leads to some bias . This is because of the fact that the characteristics
possessed by the substituted unit will usually be different from
those possessed by the unit originally included in the sample.
c . Faulty Demarcation of Sampling units
It is significant in particularly areas surveys such as agricultural
experiments in the field or in the crop cutting fields etc.
d. Constant error due to improper choice of the statistics for
estimating the population parameters:
For example while estimating the standard deviation of
population if we divide the sum of squares by “n” instead
of “n-1”,we get an unbiased estimate of population
standard deviation.
Non-sampling Errors
The non -sampling errors primarily arise at the stages of
• Observation
• Ascertainment
• Processing of data
These are, therefore present in both complete enumeration and
sample survey. Non-sampling errors can occur at every stage of
planning or execution of census or sample survey.
It is very difficult to prepare an exhaustive list of the sources of
non-sampling errors. However some of the more important ones
arise because of following factors:
1. Faulty planning or definition.
2. Response Errors
3. Non- Response bias
4. Errors in coverage
5. Compiling Errors
6. Publication Errors
Now we will discuss them in detail
1. Faulty planning or Definition:As we all know the
foremost step in research is explicitly stating the objectives of
the study.
These objectives are then translated into
• A set of definitions of the characteristics for which data is to
be collected
• Into a set of specificationsfor collection , processing and
publishing.

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 Here Non-Sampling Errors may Arise Due to
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
a. Data specification being inadequate and inconsistent with
respect of the objectives of study
b. Error due to location of the units and actual measurement
of the characteristics, errors in recording the measurements,
errors due to ill designed questionnaires.
c. Lack of trained and qualified investigators and
2.Response Errors
There arise as a result of the responses furnished by the
respondents because of following reasons
• Response error may be accidental- e.g, the respondent may
understand a particular question and accordingly furnish
improper information un-intentionally.
• Prestige Bias
• Self-Interest
• Bias due to interviewer
• Failure of respondent’s memory
3.Non- Response Bias
Non-Response biases occur if you do not obtain full information
from all the sampling units.
4.Errors in Coverage
If the objectives are not stated concisely in a clear cut manner it
may lead to -
• Certain units which should not be included also gets
included
• Certain units which must be included gets excluded
5.Compiling Errors
Various operations of data processing such as editing and coding
of the responses, punching of cards, tabulation and summarizing
the origional observations made in study are the potential source
of error.Compilation errors are subject to control through
verification , consistency check, etc.
6.Publication Errors
The errors committed during presentation and printing of
tabulated results are basically due to two sources:
• Mechanics of publication-the proofing error and the like.
• Failure of the survey organization to point out the
limitations of the statistics.
Advantages of sampling over complete enumeration
The following are the advantages and/or necessities for sampling
in statistical decision-making:
1. Cost: Cost is one of the main arguments in favour of
sampling, because often a sample can furnish data of
sufficient accuracy and at much lower cost than a census.
2. Accuracy:Much better control over data collection errors is
possible with sampling than with a census, because a sample
is a smaller-scale undertaking.
3. Timeliness:Another advantage of a sample over a census is
that the sample produces information faster. This is
important for timely decision making.
4. Amount of Information: More detailed information can be
obtained from a sample survey than from a census, because
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82
it take less time, is less costly, and allows us to take more care
in the data processing stage.
5. Destructive Tests: When a test involves the destruction of
an item under study, sampling must be used. Statistical
sampling determination can be used to find the optimal
sample size within an acceptable cost.
Limitations of Sampling
The advantages of sampling over complete enumeration can be
derived only if
• The sampling units are drawn in a scientific manner,
• The appropriate sampling technique is used, and
• The sample size is adequate
Sampling theory has its own limitations and problems which
may be briefly outlined as
1. You have to take proper care in the planning and execution
of the sample survey, otherwise the results obtained might
be inaccurate and misleading
2. Until and unless sampling is done by trained and efficient
personnel and sophisticated equipment for its planning,
execution and analysis. In absence of these sampling is not
trustworthy
3. If you want to have information of each and every unit of
population you will have to go for complete enumeration
only. In that case sampling will not be an appropriate
method.
Types of Sampling
The type of enquiry and the nature of data fundamentally
determines the technique or method of selecting a sample .
The procedure of selecting a sample may be broadly classified
under the following three heads:
• Non-Probability Sampling Methods: Subjective or
Judgement Sampling
• Probability Sampling
• Mixed Sampling
These we will be studying in detail in the next lecture.
Now, briefly tell me what concepts you have studied today?
Yes, we studied various concepts like population, statistic, variables-
qualitative and quantitative, variable randomness, characteristics
of sample statistic, sampling distribution, standard error,
principles of sample survey , sampling and non-sampling errors,
merits and limitations of sampling.
References
Aaker D A , Kumar V & Day G S - Marketing Research (John
Wiley &Sons Inc, 6th ed.)
Bell J- Doing your Research Project (OU Press, 1993)
Donald R. Cooper-Business Research Methods, Tata
McGraw-Hill Publication
Kothari C R-Quantitative Techniques (Vikas Publishing House
3rd ed.)
Levin R I & Rubin DS-Statistics for Management (Prentice Hall of
India, 2002)
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