Sampling and the Sampling

Distribution
Sampling
Statistics and Parameters
Reasons for Sampling

Taking a sample instead of conducting a census offers several advantages.

1.

The sample can save money.

2.

The sample can save time.

3.

For given resources, the sample can broaden the scope of the study.

4. Because the research process is some times destructive, the sample can save
product.
5.

If accessing the population is impossible, the sample is the only option.

Types of Sampling
Random Sampling, Non-Random Sampling.
Random Sampling

Non Random Sampling

Every unit of the

population has the same
probability
of
being
included in the sample.
A Chance mechanism is
used in the selection
process.
Eliminates bias in the
selection process.
Also
known
as
probability sampling.

Every unit of the

population does not have
the same probability of
being included in the
sample.
Not appropriate data
collection methods for
statistical methods.
Also known as nonprobability sampling.

Types of Random sampling.

(a) Simple Random Sampling

(b) Systematic Sampling
(c) Stratified Sampling
(d) Cluster Sampling

(a) Simple Random sampling

Number each element from 1 to N.

Use a random number table or a random number generator to select n distinct
numbers between 1 and N, inclusively.
Easier to perform for small populations
Cumbersome for large populations

A Brief table of random numbers

91567
99730
20655

42595
46503
58727

27958
18584
34914

30134
18845

A Population of 30 companies
Alaska Airlines
DuPont
Alcoa
Exxon Mobil
Ashland
General Dynamics
Bank of America
General Electric
BellSouth
General Mills
Petroleum
Chevron
Halliburton
Citigroup
IBM
Gamble
Clorox
Kellogg
Delta Airlines
Kmart
Disney
Lowes

04024
49618

86385
02304

Lucent
Mattel
Mead
Microsoft
Occidental
JCPenney
Procter &
Ryder
Sears
Time Warner

29880
51038

Numbered Population of 30 Companies

01 Alaska Airlines
11 DuPont
21 Lucent
02 Alcoa
12 Exxon Mobil
22 Mattel
03 Ashland
13 General Dynamics 23 Mead
04 Bank of America 14 General Electric
24 Microsoft
05 BellSouth
15 General Mills
25 Occidental.
Petroleum
06 Chevron
16 Halliburton
26
JCPenney
07 Citigroup
17 IBM
27 Procter &
Gamble
08 Clorox
18 Kellogg
28 Ryder
09 Delta Airlines
19 Kmart
29 Sears
10 Disney
20 Lowes
30 Time Warner

The final sample constitute the companies marked by blue color.

Systematic Sampling:
Convenient and relatively easy to administer
Population elements are an ordered sequence (at least, conceptually).
The first sample element is selected randomly from the first k population
elements.
Thereafter, sample elements are selected at a constant interval, k, from the
ordered sequence frame.

Example: Purchase orders for the previous fiscal year are serialized 1 to 10,000
(N=10,000). A sample of 50 (n=50 purchases orders is needed for an audit.
First sample element is randomly selected from the first 200 purchases orders .
Assume that 45th purchase order was selected. Subsequently 245, 445, 645,till 200 th
element.

Stratified Sampling

Divide the population into relatively homogeneous group called strata.

Select at random from each stratum.

Every element of the population has a chance of being selected.

Proportionate:- the percentage of the sample taken from each stratum is

proportionate to the percentage that each stratum is with the population.

Disproportionate:- proportion of the strata within the sample are different

than the proportions of strata in the population.

Example: In FM radio market, age of listener is an important

determinant of the type of programming used by the Station. Figure
below contains the stratification by age with three strata.

Stratified by Age
20 - 30 years old
(homogeneous within)
(alike)
30 - 40 years old
(homogeneous within)
(alike)
40 - 50 years old
(homogeneous within)
(alike)

Hetergeneous
(different)
between
Hetergeneous
(different)
between

6-18. Bob Bennett, product manager for Clipper Mowers Company, is

interested in looking at the kinds of lawn mowers used throughout the
country. Assistant product manager Mary Wilson has recommended a
stratified random sampling process in which the cities and the
communities studied are separated into substrata, depending on the
size and nature of the community. Mary Wilson proposes the
following classification:
Category

Type of Community

Urban

Inner city (Population

100,000+)

Suburban

Outlying areas of cities or

smaller communities (pop.
20,000 to 100,000)

Rural

Cluster Sampling
In cluster sampling, we divide the population into groups or clusters and then
select a random sample of these clusters. We assume that these individual clusters
are the representative of the population as a whole.

Example: If market research team is attempting to determine by sampling the

average number of television per household in a large city, they could use a city
map to divide the territory into blocks and then choose a certain number of blocks
for interviewing. Every households in each of these blocks would be interviewed.
Advantages

More convenient for geographically dispersed populations

Reduced travel costs to contact sample elements
Simplified administration of the survey
Disadvantages
Statistically less efficient when the cluster elements are similar

Introduction to Sampling Distribution

Obtain k different random samples each of size n, from the designated population
distribution. For each such sample calculate the value of such statistic and
construct a histogram of k calculated values. This histogram gives the approximate
sampling distribution of the statistic. The larger the value of k, the better the
approximation will tend to be ( the actual sampling distribution emerges as k
) in practice k=500 or 1000.
Example: Suppose a small finite population consists of only N=8 numbers:
54

55

59

63

64 68

69

70

The shape of the distribution of this population data.

Population Histogram

N=8
Frequency

54, 55, 59, 63, 68, 69, 70

3
2
1
0
52.5

57.5

62.5

67.5

72.5

Suppose we take all possible samples of size n=2 from the population with replacement. The result is the
following pairs of data.
(54,54)

(55,54)

(59,54)

(63,54)

(54,55)

(`55,55)

(59,55)

(63,55)

(54,59)
(54,63)
(54,64)
(54,68)
(54,69)
(54,70)
(64,54)
(64,55)
(64,59)
(64,63)
(64,64)
(64,68)
(64,69)
(64,70)

(68,70)

(69,70)

(70,70)

The means of each of these samples follow.

54

54.5

56.5

58.5

59

61

61.5

62

54.5

55

57

59

59.5

61.5

62

62.5

56.5

57

59

61

61.5

63.5

64

64.5

58.5

59

61

63

63.5

65.5

66

66.5

59

59.5

61.5

63.5

64

66

66.5

67

60

61.5

63.5

65.5

66

68

68.5

69

61.5

62

64

66

66.5 68.5

69

69.5

62

62.5

64.5

66.5

67

69.5

70

69

Frequency

Histogram
20
10
0

Frequency

Bin

1,800 Randomly Selected Values

from an Exponential Distribution
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0

0 .5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10

Means of 60 Samples (n = 2)
from an Exponential Distribution
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 2.25 2.50 2.75 3.00 3.25 3.50 3.75 4.00

Means of 60 Samples (n = 5)
from an Exponential Distribution
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 2.25 2.50 2.75 3.00 3.25 3.50 3.75 4.00

Means of 60 Samples (n = 30)

from an Exponential Distribution
16

F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0.00

0.25

0.50

0.75

1.00

1.25

1.50

1.75

2.00

2.25

2.50

2.75

3.00

1,800 Randomly Selected Values

from a Uniform Distribution
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

250
200
150
100
50
0
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

Means of 60 Samples (n = 2)
from a Uniform Distribution
F 10
r 9
e 8
q 7
u
6
e
n 5
c 4
y 3
2
1
0
1.00

1.25

1.50

1.75

2.00

2.25

2.50

2.75

3.00

3.25

3.50

3.75

4.00 4.25

Means of 60 Samples (n = 5)
from a Uniform Distribution
F 12
r
e 10
q
u 8
e
n 6
c
y 4
2
0
1.00

1.25

1.50

1.75

2.00

2.25

2.50

2.75

3.00

3.25

3.50

3.75

4.00

4.25

Means of 60 Samples (n = 30)

from a Uniform Distribution
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

25
20
15
10
5
0
1.00

1.25

1.50

1.75

2.00

2.25

2.50

2.75

3.00

3.25

3.50

3.75

4.00

4.25

Central Limit Theorem

If the samples of size n are drawn randomly from a population

that has a mean and a standard deviation , the sample means, ,
are approximately normally distributed for sufficiently large sample
sizes ( n 30 ) regardless of the shape of the population distribution.
If the population is normally distributed , the sample means are
normally distributed for any size sample.
Also the mean of the sampling distribution is
. And the
standard deviation of the sample means ( called the standard error
of the mean) is the standard deviation of the population divided by

the square root of the sample size n

x

Distribution of Sample Means

for Various Sample Sizes
Exponential
Population

Uniform
Population

n=2

n=2

n=5

n=5

n = 30

n = 30

Distribution of Sample Means

for Various Sample Sizes
U Shaped
Population

Normal
Population

n=2

n=2

n=5

n=5

n = 30

n = 30

Z formula for sample means(To find the probability of occurrences of

sample means)
Z=

x
x

where

Finite Population Multiplier

N n
X

N 1
n

Where N=size of the population

n=size of the sample

When the population is small in relation to the size of the sample,

the finite population multiplier reduces the size of the standard error.
Any decrease in the standard error increases the precision with
which the sample mean can be used to estimate the population mean.

Exercise 7.21
According to Nielsen Media Research, the average number of hours of TV viewing
per household per week in the United States is 50.4 hours. Suppose the standard
deviation is 11.8 hours and a random sample of 42 is taken.
a.

What is the probability that the sample average is more than 52 hours?

b.

What is the probability that the sample average is less than 47.5 hours?

c. What is the probability that the sample average is less than 40 hours? If the
sample average actually is less than 40 hours, what would it mean in terms of the
Nielsen Media Research figures?
d. Suppose the population standard deviation is unknown. If 71% of all sample
means are greater than 49 hours and the population mean is still 50.4 hours , what
is the value of the population standard deviation?

Sampling Distributions of proportions

If the research produces measurable data such as weight, distance, time and
income, the sample mean is often the statistics of choice. However, if research
results in countable items such as how many people in the sample have the flexible
work schedule, the sample proportion is the statistic of choice.
Sample proportion is computed by dividing the frequency with which a given
characteristics occurs in a sample by the number of items in the sample.

Sample
Proportion

x
n

Where x= number of items in a sample

that have the characteristic
n= number of items in the sample.

Z formula for
sample
proportions for
n.p>5 and
n.q>5

p p
p.q
n

Where p = sample mean

N=sample size
p=population proportion,
q=1-p

Exercise 7.27
According to survey by Accountemps, 48% of executives believe
that employees are most productive on Tuesdays. Suppose 200
executives are randomly surveyed
a.
What is the probability that fewer than 90 of the executives
believe employees are most productive on Tuesdays.
b. What is the probability that more than 100 executives believe
employees are most productive in Tuesdays.
c. What is the probability that more than 80 of the executives
believe employees are most productive on Tuesdays

Ex- 7.28 The Travel Weekly International Air Transport Association

survey asked business travelers about the purpose for their most
recent business trip. Nineteen percent responded that it was for an
internal company visit. Suppose 950 business travelers are
randomly selected.
a. What is the probability that more than 25% of the business
travelers say that the reason for their most recent business trip
was an internal company visit?
b. What is the probability that between 15% and 20% of the
business travelers say that the reason for their most recent
business trip was an internal company visit?
c. What is the probability that between 133 and 171 of the business
travelers say that the reason for their most recent business trip
was an internal company visit?