Sampling method

Sampling method:

In view of all these difficulties one has to resort to sampling methods for collecting the data.

Sample is small proportion of the population taken from the population to study the characteristics of the population. By observing the sample one can make inferences about the population from which it is taken.

Sampling is a technique adopted to select a sample. The sample must represent or exactly duplicate the characteristics of the population under study. In suchcase that sample is called as a representative sample. The sampling method used for selecting a sample is important in determining how closely the sample resembles the population, in determining.

Sampling unit is the basic unit to be sampled from the population which cannot be further subdivided for the purpose of sampling. Head of the house is the sampling unit for the household survey. In the study to know the average age of a class, student is the sampling unit.

Sampling frame to adopt a sampling procedure it is ^{precisely about sampling} necessary to prepare a list such that there exists, one to one ^{that “one grain suffices} correspondence between sampling units and numbers. Such a list or map is called sampling frame. A list of villages in a district, Student list of +1 and +2 students in the above said example, A list of houses in a household survey etc.

Sample size is the number of units in the sample.

Merits and Limitations of Sampling

The prime objective of the sampling is to get the representative sample which will provides the desired information about the population with maximum accuracy at a given cost.

Merits

·           Cost: Expenditure on conducting the survey is less compared to complete enumeration.

·           Time: The consumption of time is relatively less in a sample study than potentially generated voluminous data.

·           Accuracy: It is practically proved that the results based on representative samples more reliable than the complete enumeration.

·           In the case of destructive type situations, sampling method is the only way.

Limitations

·           Accuracy depends on the honesty of the investigator

·           There is possibility for sampling error.