What is Statistical Sampling?

Statistical sampling refers to the study

particular country watch on television last night? Who does an electorate intend to vote for in an upcoming election? How many birds return from

of

populations

by

gathering migration at a certain location? What percentage of the These workforce kinds is of

information about and analyzing it. Statistical sampling is the base for a unemployed? great deal of information, ranging questions are huge in the sense that from estimates of average height in a they require us to keep track of nation to studies on the impact of millions of individuals. marketing to children. Numerous Statistics simplifies these problems by using a technique called sampling. By conducting a statistical sample, our workload can be cut down immensely. Rather than tracking the behaviors of billions or millions, we only need to examine hundreds. those As of we thousands will see, or this

professions use statistical sampling, including psychology, demography, and anthropology. Like any study method, however, statistical sampling is prone to errors, and it is important to analyze the methods used to conduct a study before accepting the results. Many times researchers want to know the answers to big sorts of questions. These questions may or may not be profound, but they are large in their scope. What did everyone in a 1

simplification comes at a price.

Populations and Censuses

country. Those who do not return the form are visited by census workers

The population of a statistical study is what were trying to find out Censuses are fraught with difficulties. They are typically expensive in terms of time and resources. In addition to this its difficult to guarantee that everyone in the population has been reached. Other populations are even more difficult to conduct a census with. If we wanted to study the habits of stray dogs in the state of New York, good luck rounding up all of those transient canines.

something about. It consists of all of the individuals who are being

examined. A population can really be anything. Californians, caribous,

computers, cars or counties could all be considered populations, depending on the statistical question. Although most populations being researched are large, they do not necessarily have to be.

One

strategy

to

research

the

Samples

population is to conduct a census. In a census we examine each and every member of the population in our study. A prime example of this is the U.S. Census. Every ten years the Census Bureau sends a

questionnaire to everyone in the

Since its normally either impossible or impractical to track down every member of a population, the next option available is to sample the population. A sample is any subset of a population, so its size can be small or large. We want a sample small enough to be manageable by our computing power, yet large enough to give us statistically significant results.

the higher the sample size, but in turn also the higher cost of obtaining the same behavior. The sample is used to investigate, infer or discover the characteristics of the population

The problem of statistical inference is often dealt with in two different ways:

A).- estimation theory B).verification theory or

If a polling firm is trying to determine voter satisfaction with Congress, and its sample size is one, then the results are going to be meaningless (but easy to obtain). On the other hand, asking millions of people is going to consume too many resources. To strike a balance, polls of this type typically have sample sizes of around 1000.

hypothesis testing The first of these theories, parameters or population characteristics are

estimated from the corresponding sample values The second is a hypothesis about the parameter or population-based

feature and then take a sample to compare or verify this hypothesis. Instead of or estimating the

The

accuracy

achieved

in

the

characteristic

population-based

knowledge of the population is greater

value by a single number (point 3

estimate), what is done is to estimate two numbers that define the range within which the value with a will be

students are between 18-25 years old, and are required by their

instructors to read textbooks and novels. This is a poor representation of the average American. A good sample would contain people of

population-based

given

probability (interval estimation).

Random Samples

different ages, from all walks of life, and from different regions of the

But having the right sample size is not country. To acquire such a sample we enough to ensure good results. We would need to compose it randomly want a sample that is representative so that every American has an equal of the population. Suppose we want probability of being in the sample. to find out how many books the average American reads annually. We ask 2000 college students to keep track of what they read over the year, then check back with them after a year has gone by. We find the mean number of books read is 12, and then conclude that the average American reads 12 books a year. The gold standard of statistical

Types of Samples

experiments is the simple random sample. In such a sample of

size n individuals, every member of the population has the same

likelihood of being selected for the sample, and every has the group same

The problem with this scenario is with the sample. A majority of college

of n individuals

likelihood of being selected. There are 4

a variety of ways to sample a population. common are: Some of the most

sophisticated our analysis, statistical techniques will not give us any worthwhile conclusions.

Random sample Simple random sample Voluntary response sample Convenience sample Systematic sample Cluster sample Stratified sample

http://statistics.about.com/od/HelpandTutor ials/a/What-Is-Statistical-Sampling.htm

Some Words of Advice

As the saying goes, Well begun is half done. To ensure that our

statistical studies and experiments have good results, we need to plan and start them carefully. Its easy to come up with bad statistical samples. Good simple random samples require some work to obtain. If our data has been obtained haphazardly and in a cavalier manner, then no matter how