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Slovins Formula: What is it and When do I use it?

Probability and Statistics > Slovins Formula
If you take a population sample, you must use a formula to figure out what sample size you need
to take. Sometimes you know something about a population, which can help you determine a
sample size. For example, its well known that IQ scores follow a normal distribution pattern.
But what about if you know nothing about your population at all? Thats when you can use
Slovins formula to figure out what sample size you need to take, which is written as n = N / (1 +
Ne2) where n = Number of samples, N = Total population and e = Error tolerance
Sample question: Use Slovins formula to find out what sample of a population of 1,000 people
you need to take for a survey on their soda preferences.
Step 1: Figure out what you want your confidence level to be. For example, you might want a
confidence level of 95 percent (which will give you a margin of error of 0.05), or you might need
better accuracy at the 98 percent confidence level (which produces a margin of error of 0.02).
Step 2. Plug your data into the formula. In this example, well use a 95 percent confidence level
with a population size of 1,000.
n = N / (1 + N e2) =
1,000 / (1 + 1000 * 0.05 2) = 285.714286
Step 3: Round your answer to a whole number (because you cant sample a fraction of a person
or thing!)
285.714286 = 286

Like the explanation? Check out the Practically Cheating Statistics Handbook, which has
hundreds more step-by-step explanations, just like this one!
What is Slovins Formula?
Slovinss formula is used to calculate an appropriate sample size from a population.

About sampling
Statistics is a way of looking at a populations behavior by taking a sample. Its usually
impossible to survey every member of a population because of money or time. For example,

lets say you wanted to know how many people in the USA were vegetarians. Think about how
long it would take you to call over 300 million people; Assuming they all had phones and could
speak!. The problems with surveying entire populations are why researchers survey just a fraction
of the population: a sample.
The problem with taking a sample of the population is sample size. Obviously, if you asked just
one person in the population if they were vegetarian then their answer wouldnt be representative
of everyone. But would 100 people be sufficient? 1000? Ten thousand? How you figure out a big
enough sample size involves applying a formula. While there are many formulas to calculate
sample sizes, most of them require you to know something about the population, like the mean.
But what if you knew nothing about your population? Thats where Slovins formula comes in.
When Slovins formula is used
If you have no idea about a populations behavior, use Slovins formula to find the sample
size.The formula (sometimes written as Slovens formula) was formulated by Slovin in 1960.
The error tolerance, e, can be given to you (for example, in a question). If youre a researcher
you might want to figure out your own margin of error; Just subtract your confidence level from 1.
For example, if you wanted to be 98 percent confident that your data was going to be reflective of
the entire population then:
1-0.98 = 0.02.
e=0.02.
Who Invented Slovins Formula?
I love a challenge. Out of curiosity I Googled Who Invented Slovins Formula? today. I
remembered waaayyy back when I first learned about Slovins formula, it was attributed to
Michael Slovin but I was looking for a little more information on him. The top search result
was Yahoo! Answers with this response as the Best Answer:
Im sorry, I couldnt find any information on the net about the origins of Slovins Formula or
who developed it. Judging by the lack of answers, it looks like not many people of YA know
either. Really sorry I couldnt help. Xxx :)
Surely it cant be that hard to figure out where the formula came fromcould it? A search for
Slovins Formula just brings up sites (like this one) describing how to use the formula, but
not where it came from. Oddly enough, Wikipedia the site that has a page for everything
(Michigan left, anyone?) doesnt have one for Slovins Formula. It doesnt even have one for
Slovin. The plot thickens
A somewhat hilarious Google search for the person who invented Slovins Formula
revealed why you shouldnt trust everything you read on the web. Several authoritative posts on
Ask.com, Wiki Answers and other Answer sites gave the following answers to the question
Who invented Slovins Formula:

Mark Slovin
Michael Slovin
Kulkol Slovin
Theres also some chat over at Wikimedia Talk, on the topic of even if there should be a
Wikipedia page on Slovins formula at all!
the formula itself seems clearly notable as you get quite a number of hits under Google books
([1]). Slovin publication of the formula is however dated 1960 not 1843, but it might have known
to others earlier.Kmhkmh (talk) 09:05, 1 April 2013 (UTC)++
Slovins formula I find no evidence of these formulas that doesnt seem to trace back to the
same handbooks. There is no author in MathSciNet with the name Slovin, and the only
published article I could find for a person named Slovin in 1960 is an unrelated patent.
This mention of Slovens formula in the 2003 book Elementary Statistics: A Modern
Approach by Altares et. al might provide a clue (note the spelling)slovin's formula:
And Guilford, J.P. and Frucher. B; (1973), Fundamental Statistics in Psychology and Education,
New York: MC Graw-Hill does cite Slovin (1960). Now, if I could get my hands on that book, I
might be able to solve this mystery!
Slovins Formula: What is it and When do I use it? was last modified: December 30th, 2015 by
Andale
By Andale | May 14, 2012 | Hypothesis Testing, Other Distributions, Sample Size | 22 Comments |
Coefficient of Determination (R Squared): Definition, CalculationHow to Use the Quadratic
Formula in Calculus
22 thoughts on Slovins Formula: What is it and When do I use it?
Mike
November 27, 2012 at 9:48 am
the problem I have with this formula is that a 5% MOE at 100,000 is 398 while a 5% MOE at
10,000,000 is 399.
Andale Post author
November 29, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Mike,
When it gets to very large populations, the sample size is often the same as a smaller population.
Its hard to explain that in a comment here, but basically a small sample is often enough to get
good results, whether you are surveying 100,000 people or 10 million. (Please note, I havent
done the math here for 100,000 or 10 million but I am taking your word that the math is correct :)
Best,
Stephanie
aki

January 7, 2013 at 11:54 pm

how to get or compute the margin of error?
rosalyn comia
January 9, 2013 at 6:12 pm
Can I use the slovins formula if i intend to conduct a spot-check? I already have a sample
population derived out of the total population, but I could not figure out the sample size I would
use to spotcheck certain number of respondents to save on cost, money and time.
Andale Post author
January 11, 2013 at 1:33 pm
Aki, you have to figure out what confidence level you are willing to accept. In the example about,
a CI of 95 percent will give you a ME or .05.
tsegaye
January 16, 2013 at 4:25 am
please i didnt get adequate answer about at what time or under what condition that i have to
apply any formula to determine a sample size
Mailyn
January 17, 2013 at 4:35 am
Please indicate a sample on how to use Slovins Formula in a categorical way.
Andale Post author
January 18, 2013 at 9:00 am
Tsegaye,
Sorry time constraints dont give me enough time to answer every stats question in the
comments. Please post on our forum (click the tab above) and one of our moderators will be glad
to help :)
Stephanie
Andale Post author
January 22, 2013 at 6:30 am
Mailyn,
Time constraints prevent me from answering stats questions in the commentsbut post on our
forums and our mod will be happy to help :) (In fact, I think a poster recently asked this
question)
Stephanie
Hiram

March 11, 2013 at 6:51 pm

Hi there, do you have articles that support the use of Slovins formula? Thank you.
Andale Post author
April 7, 2013 at 11:20 am
Hiram,
Not yet but they may be coming in the near future.
Thanks for stopping by :)
Stephanie
Kumi
July 20, 2015 at 8:46 pm
Hi! I just checked on a site saying that: Not proper to call it Slovins Formula since he did NOT
derive it! The term Slovins Formula originated in the Philippines. Based on the formula, by
setting P=0.5, we are getting the largest possible sample, which may be good or bad. It is valid
only under simple random sampling and any other design that is theoretically more efficient than
simple random sampling (e.g., one-stage stratified sampling). Lastly, the setting up of the value of
e varies from one purpose to another. Of course, the smaller, the better.
dont know if it is legit though but UP Diliman is one of the best universities in the Philippines
Sivashankar K R
July 24, 2015 at 11:49 pm
Very useful for the research work of young anaesthsesiologists
Sivashankar K R
July 24, 2015 at 11:58 pm
Very useful for young research workers
Freeman
August 1, 2015 at 12:23 pm
Please, Id like to know if there is another name for Slovins fomular.
Andale Post author
August 1, 2015 at 12:50 pm
Not that I know of.
Michaella
August 27, 2015 at 8:46 pm
Should we still use Slovins in purposive sampling?
Andale Post author
August 28, 2015 at 9:01 am
No. As purposive sampling is non-random, how large the sample is depends on the researcher. As

you cant run statistics on your sample (due to the non random process), then theres no point
in using Slovins. You could use Slovins if you wanted tobut there really wouldnt be any
point.
wamala herbert
May 3, 2016 at 12:42 pm
what are some of the advantages and limitation of slovins formular
wamala herbert
May 3, 2016 at 12:46 pm
i used this formular for my research but everyone told how brightly i chose my sample size
Andale Post author
May 3, 2016 at 5:35 pm
Well you can use it if you know nothing about the population. But its a guesstimate and other
methods are probably more accurate.
Duarte
August 10, 2016 at 1:22 am
Additional information: On the Misuse of Slovins Formula https://www.google.com.ph/url?
sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiZ07y1qrbOAhX
BPCYKHaUEDJMQFggaMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philstat.org.ph%2Ffiles%2Fimages
%2F2012_611_9_On_the_Misuse_of_Slovin_s_Formula.pdf&usg=AFQjCNFNpHi0BQrrCLgYD
P5iOtDj7Ytjsw
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