What is Sampling?
Sampling means selecting a small group from a larger group (called a population) to study it
and make conclusions about the whole group.
📌 Example: Instead of asking every customer about their opinion, we just ask 100 people and
use their answers to guess what most customers think.
🔍 Basic Terms
● Sample: A small part taken from a population
● Population: The complete group you want to study (e.g., all customers)
● Census: Studying the whole population (takes more time and money)
✅ Why Use Sampling?
1. Saves Time & Money – You don’t need to ask everyone.
2. Gives Reliable Results – If done well, small samples give correct info.
3. Better Accuracy – A trained small team can be more accurate than a large untrained
group.
4. Some Items Can’t Be Tested Fully – E.g., blood samples are used up during testing.
🪜 Steps in Sampling
1. Define your target population (Who do you want to study?)
2. Choose your sampling frame (A list of people/items to choose from)
3. Choose between probability or non-probability sampling
4. Decide how to pick the people/items (sampling units)
5. Decide the sample size (How many people/items to choose)
6. Select and collect the sample
🎯 Target Population & Sampling Frame
● Target population: The full group relevant to your research (e.g., online buyers in
Karachi)
● Sampling frame: The actual list from which the sample is picked (e.g., customer email
list)
🧱 Sampling Units
These are the people or items you pick (e.g., every 25th passenger on a flight list)
🔢 Two Main Types of Sampling
1. Probability Sampling
Everyone in the population has a known chance to be selected.
2. Non-Probability Sampling
We don’t know the exact chance of someone being picked. Not random.
🧪 Types of Non-Probability Sampling
● Convenience Sampling: Pick whoever is easy to find (e.g., people in a mall)
● Judgment Sampling: Use your own judgment to pick people (e.g., experts)
● Quota Sampling: Pick people from different groups in fixed numbers (e.g., 30 men, 30
women)
● Snowball Sampling: Ask first people to suggest others (used for rare populations)
🎲 Types of Probability Sampling
● Simple Random Sampling: Everyone has an equal chance (like lottery)
● Systematic Sampling: Pick every nth person from a list (e.g., every 5th name)
● Stratified Sampling: Divide population into groups (strata) and sample from each group
(e.g., age groups)
● Cluster Sampling: Divide into clusters (e.g., cities), pick some clusters, then sample
within them
● Multistage Sampling: Mix of methods in steps (e.g., pick provinces, then districts, then
schools)
📊 Cluster vs. Stratified Sampling
Feature Cluster Sampling Stratified Sampling
Grouping Randomly chosen Subgroups based on specific
clusters traits
Inside Different people Similar people
Groups
Example Cities → Schools Age groups
🤔 Choosing the Best Sample Design
You must consider:
● How accurate do you need to be?
● How much time and money you have?
● Do you have data about the population?
● Is it a national or local study?
● Do you need to analyze with statistics?
