INSTITUTE –University School of

Business
DEPARTMENT -Management
BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODS
Course Name: 22BAT-624
Dr. Kamalpreet Kaur Paposa
Assistant Professor
Chandigarh University

Unit 2- Sampling DISCOVER . LEARN . EMPOWER

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 Learning Objectives
Measurement and Scaling

Co CO name Level
Will be covered in
No the lecture
.
CO To understand the research process for writing a understand
1 research paper, Ph.D Thesis and dissertation
CO To apply different research designs and sampling apply
2 techniques in various business research problems

CO To analyze and interpret various hypothesis tests to analyse

3 supplement decision making in business scenario
CO To compare the various sampling techniques for remember
4 collection of data
CO To create and implement a research proposal for understand
5 the real life business problems
 Topic of discussion
❑ Statistical Population
❑ Sample
❑ Sampling frame
❑ Sampling error

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 Statistical Population

❑ A population is the complete set group of individuals, whether

that group comprises a nation or a group of people with a
common characteristic.
❑ In statistics, a population is the pool of individuals from which a
statistical sample is drawn for a study. Thus, any selection of
individuals grouped by a common feature can be said to be a
population.

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Sample

❑It includes one or more observations that are drawn from the population and the measurable
characteristic of a sample is a statistic. Sampling is the process of selecting the sample from the
population. For example, some people living in India is the sample of the population.

❑EXAMPLES Choosing every fifth voter who leaves a polling place to interview, drawing playing
cards randomly from a deck, polling every tenth visitor who views a certain Web site today.

❑INTERPRETATION The method by which sampling occurs, the identification of all items in a
population, and the techniques used to select individual observations all affect sampling.

• Basically, there are two types of sampling. They are:

• Probability sampling
• Non-probability sampling
Qualities of Good Sample
• Representativeness: A good sample accurately reflects the
characteristics of the population from which it is drawn.
• Random Selection: Individuals or elements in the sample should be
selected randomly from the population, meaning that every member
of the population has an equal chance of being included in the
sample.
• Adequate Size: The sample size should be sufficiently large to provide
reliable estimates and meaningful insights.
• Inclusiveness: A good sample includes all relevant subgroups or strata
within the population to ensure that each group is adequately
represented.
Qualities of Good Sample
• Homogeneity: The individuals or elements in the sample should be
relatively homogeneous with respect to the characteristics being
studied.
• Independence: Each individual or element in the sample should be
selected independently of other units, meaning that the inclusion of
one unit does not affect the likelihood of other units being included.
• Ethical Considerations: A good sample is obtained through ethical
means, respecting the rights and privacy of participants. Researchers
should obtain informed consent from participants and adhere to
ethical guidelines and regulations governing research involving
human subjects.
Qualities of Good Sample
• Feasibility: The sample should be practical to obtain given the
resources, time, and constraints of the research project. Researchers
must consider factors such as cost, time, and logistical challenges
when determining the sample size and selection methods.
Sampling frame

❑A sampling frame is a list or database from which a sample can be used. In market
research terms, a sampling frame is a database of potential respondents that can be
drawn from to invite to take part in a given research project.
❑A sampling frame generally includes the respondents’ names and appropriate
contact details (so that they can be contacted to take part in the research),but may
also include other significant known information that may be drawn upon in the
analysis stage of the research such as age, location or customer segmentation data.
❑ This information is often stored in an Excel spreadsheet, or similar document.
Qualities of a Good Sampling Frame

1.Include all individuals in the target population.

2.Exclude all individuals not in the target population.
3.Includes accurate information that can be used to contact selected
individuals.
Sampling error
❑Sampling error is the deviation of the selected sample from the true
characteristics, traits, behaviors, qualities or figures of the entire
population.
Reasons for Sampling Error

❑Sampling process error occurs because researchers draw different

subjects from the same population but still, the subjects have
individual differences.
❑Biased sampling procedure.
❑Error by chance: randomized subjects are not representative of the
population
❑Systematic error: Wherein the results from the sample differ
significantly from the results from the entire population.
Ways to Eliminate Sampling Error

❑There is only one way to eliminate this error. This solution is to

eliminate the concept of sample, and to test the entire population.

❑In most cases this is not possible; consequently, what a researcher

must to do is to minimize sampling process error. This can be achieved
by a proper and unbiased probability sampling and by using a large
sample size.
SAMPLING
Introduction
• A research population is large collection of individuals or objects that
is the main focus of a scientific query.
• However, due to the large sizes of populations, researchers often
cannot test every individual in the population because it is too
expensive and time-consuming.
• This is the reason why researchers rely on sampling techniques
Sampling
• Sampling is that part of statistical practice concerned with the selection of
individual observations intended to yield some knowledge about a
population of concern, especially for the purposes of statistical inference.

• Sampling is the process of selecting a number of study subjects from a

defined study population (i.e. the population being investigated).

• In most research studies, it is not possible to include all the study

population in the research design. Therefore, you need to look at a sample
of individuals who will give you the necessary information that you can
then apply to everyone in the study population
Relationship of Sample and Population in
Research
• A sample is simply a subset of the population.
• The sample must be representative of the population
from which it was drawn and it must have good size to
warrant statistical analysis.
• The main function of the sample is to allow the
researchers to conduct the study to individuals from the
population so that the results of their study can be used
to derive conclusions that will apply to the entire
population.
• It is much like a give-and-take process. The population
“gives” the sample, and then it “takes” conclusions from
the results obtained from the sample.
Relationship of Sample and Population in
Research
POPULATION & Sample
Sampling Design
• The method of selecting [non-overlapping] sample units to be
included in a sample.

• The sampling design specifies the number, type, and location of

sampling units to be selected for measurement.
The Sampling Design Process
1. Define the target population
• target population is defined in terms of element, sampling unit,
extent, and time frame
Population
• A population can be defined as including all people or items with the
characteristic one wishes to understand.
• A complete set of persons or objects that possess some common
characteristics of interest to the researcher.
• The target population is the set of all units that comprise the items of
interest in a scientific study, that is, the population about which the
decision maker wants to be able to draw conclusions.
• The sampled population is that part of the target population that is
accessible and available for sampling.
Example
• For ex, if a kitchen appliances firm wants to conduct a survey to
ascertain the demand for its micro ovens, it may define the
population as ‘all women above the age of 20 who cook (assuming
that very few men cook)’. However this definition is too broad and
will include every household in the country, in the population that is
to be covered by the survey. Therefore the definition can be further
refined and defined at the sampling unit level, that, all women above
the age 20, who cook and whose monthly household income exceeds
Rs.20,000. This reduces the target population size and makes the
research more focused. The population definition can be refined
further by specifying the area from where the researcher has to draw
his sample, that is, households located in Hyderabad.
2. Determining the sampling frame
• A sampling unit is a member of the population that may be selected
for sampling .
• The sampling frame must be representative of the population.
• The sampling frame is a list of all the possible sampling units from
which the sample can be selected.
• The sample is a collection of some of these sampling units.
Example
• Continuing with the micro oven ex, an ideal sampling frame would be
a database that contains all the households that have a monthly
income above Rs.20,000.
3. Select Sampling technique
• The sampling method outlines the way in which the sample units are
to be selected. The choice of the sampling method is influenced by
the objectives of the business research, availability of financial
resources, time constraints, and the nature of the problem to be
investigated. All sampling methods can be grouped under two distinct
heads, that is, probability and non-probability sampling.
4. Determine the Sample Size
• Sample size is the number of elements to be included in the study
• It depends upon the various quantitative and qualitative factors
5. Execute the sampling process
• In this step, the specifications and decisions regarding the
implementation of the research process are outlined.
Classification of Sampling Technique
• Sampling methods can be split into two distinct groups:

1. Probability samples
2. Non-probability samples
Probability Samples
• Probability samples offer each respondent an equal probability or
chance at being included in the sample.
• They are considered to be:
• Objective
• Empirical
• Scientific
• Quantitative
• Representative
Non Probability Samples
• A non probability sample relies on the researcher selecting the
respondents.
• They are considered to be:
• Interpretive
• Subjective
• Not scientific
• Qualitative
• Unrepresentative
Techniques of Probability Sampling
Simple Random Sampling
• Each possible sample of a given size (n) has a known and equal
probability of being the sample actually selected.
• This implies that every element is selected independently of every
other element.
• The researcher first compile a sampling frame in which each element
is assigned a unique identification number. Then random numbers are
generated to determine which element to include in a sample.
Simple Random Sampling

List of clients

Random subsample
Systematic Sampling
• The sample is chosen by selecting a random starting point and then
picking every i th element in succession from sampling frame.
• Number units in population from 1 to N.
• Decide on the n that you want or need.
• N/n=k the interval size.
• Randomly select a number from 1 to k.
• Take every kth unit.
• For example, there are 100,000 elements in the population and a
sample of 1,000 is desired. In this case the sampling interval, i, is 100.
A random number between 1 and 100 is selected. If, for example, this
number is 23, the sample consists of elements 23, 123, 223, 323, 423,
523, and so on.
Systematic Random Sampling 1
2
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51
52
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N = 100 3 28 53 78
4 29 54 79
5 30 55 80
6 31 56 81
7 32 57 82
8 33 58 83
9 34 59 84
10 35 60 85
11 36 61 86
12 37 62 87
13 38 63 88
14 39 64 89
15 40 65 90
16 41 66 91
17 42 67 92
18 43 68 93
19 44 69 94
20 45 70 95
21 46 71 96
22 47 72 97
23 48 73 98
24 49 74 99
25 50 75 100
Systematic Random Sampling 1
2
26
27
51
52
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N = 100 3 28 53 78
4 29 54 79
5 30 55 80
6 31 56 81
Want n = 20 7 32 57 82
8 33 58 83
9 34 59 84
10 35 60 85
11 36 61 86
12 37 62 87
13 38 63 88
14 39 64 89
15 40 65 90
16 41 66 91
17 42 67 92
18 43 68 93
19 44 69 94
20 45 70 95
21 46 71 96
22 47 72 97
23 48 73 98
24 49 74 99
25 50 75 100
Systematic Random Sampling 1
2
26
27
51
52
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N = 100 3 28 53 78
4 29 54 79
5 30 55 80
6 31 56 81
want n = 20 7 32 57 82
8 33 58 83
9 34 59 84
10 35 60 85
11 36 61 86
N/n = 5 12 37 62 87
13 38 63 88
14 39 64 89
15 40 65 90
16 41 66 91
17 42 67 92
18 43 68 93
19 44 69 94
20 45 70 95
21 46 71 96
22 47 72 97
23 48 73 98
24 49 74 99
25 50 75 100
Systematic Random Sampling 1
2
26
27
51
52
76
77
N = 100 3 28 53 78
4 29 54 79
5 30 55 80
6 31 56 81
Want n = 20 7 32 57 82
8 33 58 83
9 34 59 84
10 35 60 85
11 36 61 86
N/n = 5 12 37 62 87
13 38 63 88
14 39 64 89
15 40 65 90
Select a random number from 1-5: chose 4 16 41 66 91
17 42 67 92
18 43 68 93
19 44 69 94
20 45 70 95
21 46 71 96
22 47 72 97
23 48 73 98
24 49 74 99
25 50 75 100
Systematic Random Sampling 1
2
26
27
51
52
76
77
N = 100 3 28 53 78
4 29 54 79
5 30 55 80
6 31 56 81
Want n = 20 7 32 57 82
8 33 58 83
9 34 59 84
10 35 60 85
11 36 61 86
N/n = 5 12 37 62 87
13 38 63 88
14 39 64 89
15 40 65 90
Select a random number from 1-5: chose 4 16 41 66 91
17 42 67 92
18 43 68 93
19 44 69 94
20 45 70 95
21 46 71 96
Start with #4 and take every 5th unit 22 47 72 97
23 48 73 98
24 49 74 99
25 50 75 100
Stratified Sampling
• A two-step process in which the population
is partitioned into subpopulations, or strata.
• The strata should be mutually exclusive and
collectively exhaustive in that every
population element should be assigned to
one and only one stratum and no
population elements should be omitted.
• The elements within a stratum should be as
homogeneous as possible, but the elements
in different strata should be as
heterogeneous as possible.

• Next, elements are selected from each

stratum by a random procedure
Cluster Sampling
• The target population is first divided into
mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive
subpopulations, or clusters.
• Then a random sample of clusters is selected,
based on a probability sampling technique such
as SRS.
• For each selected cluster, either all the elements
are included in the sample (one-stage) or a
sample of elements is drawn probabilistically
(two-stage).
• Elements within a cluster should be as
heterogeneous as possible, but clusters
themselves should be as homogeneous as
possible. Ideally, each cluster should be a small-
scale representation of the population.
Non Probability Sampling
Techniques
Convenience Sampling
Convenience sampling attempts to obtain a sample of convenient elements.
Often, respondents are selected because they happen to be in the right place at
the right time.

• use of students, and members of social organizations

• mall intercept interviews without qualifying the respondents
• “people on the street” interviews
Judgment sampling
• Judgment sampling is a common nonprobability method.

• The sample is selected based upon judgment.

• an extension of convenience sampling

• When using this method, the researcher must be confident that the chosen
sample is truly representative of the entire population.
• test markets selected to determine the potential of new product
• purchase engineers selected in industrial marketing research
• Departmental stores selected to test new merchandising displaying system
Quota Sampling
Quota sampling may be viewed as two-stage restricted judgmental sampling.
• The first stage consists of developing control categories, or quotas, of population elements.

• In the second stage, sample elements are selected based on convenience or judgment.
QuotaQuota
Sampling
sampling may be viewed as two-stage restricted judgmental sampling.
• The first stage consists of developing control categories, or quotas, of
population elements.
• In the second stage, sample elements are selected based on convenience or
judgment.

Population Sample
composition composition
Control
Characteristic Percentage Percentage Number
Sex
Male 48 48 480
Female 52 52 520
____ ____ ____
100 100 1000
Snow Ball Sampling
In snowball sampling, an initial group of respondents is selected, usually at
random.

• After being interviewed, these respondents are asked to identify others who
belong to the target population of interest.
• Subsequent respondents are selected based on the referrals.
 Topic of discussion
❑ Sample size
❑ Sample size process
❑ Sample size calculations

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Sample
Size
❑ Sample size is a research term used for defining the number of
individuals included in a research study to represent a population.
❑ The sample size references the total number of respondents
included in a study, and the number is often broken down into sub-
groups by demographics such as age, gender, and location so that the
total sample achieves represents the entire population.
❑ Determining the appropriate sample size is one of the most
important factors in statistical analysis.
 Understanding sample sizes
❑ Population size: The total number of people in the group you are
trying to study.

❑Margin of error: A percentage that tells you how much you can
expect your survey results to reflect the views of the overall
population. The smaller the margin of error, the closer you are to
having the exact answer at a given confidence level.
❑ The margin of error (MOE) for a survey tells you how near you can
expect the survey results to be to the correct population value. For
example, a survey indicates that 72% of respondents favor Brand A
over Brand B with a 3% margin of error. In this case, the actual
population percentage that prefers Brand A likely falls within the
range of 72% ± 3%, or 69 – 75%.
Understanding sample sizes
❑ Sampling confidence level: A percentage that reveals how confident
you can be that the population would select an answer within a
certain range. For example, a 95% confidence level means that you
can be 95% certain the results lie between x and y numbers.

❑A 95% confidence level means that if we were to repeat the sampling

process numerous times, we would expect the true population
parameter to fall within the calculated confidence interval in
approximately 95% of those samples.
Sample size process

❑The sampling size process involves several specific activities,

namely:
* defining the population that is the object of the research;
* choosing the sampling size frame;
* choosing the sampling size method;
* establishing the modalities of the selection of the sample
size units;
* determining the method of calculating the sample size;
* Choosing the actual units of the sample size;
* conducting field activity.
 Sample size calculations
• Sample size for known population
Calculation of a Sample Size
• In an office of 500 people, with a 95% confidence level and 5% margin
of error:
Calculation of a Sample Size
Sample size for unknown population
Considerations before determining the sample
size
(i) Nature of universe: Universe may be either homogenous or heterogenous in nature. If the items of the
universe are homogenous, a small sample can serve the purpose. But if the items are heteogenous, a large
sample would be required. Technically, this can be termed as the dispersion factor.
(ii) Number of classes proposed: If many class-groups (groups and sub-groups) are to be formed, a large sample
would be required because a small sample might not be able to give a reasonable number of items in each class-
group.
(iii) Nature of study: If items are to be intensively and continuously studied, the sample should be small. For a
general survey the size of the sample should be large, but a small sample is considered appropriate in technical
surveys.
(iv) Type of sampling: Sampling technique plays an important part in determining the size of the sample. A small
random sample is apt to be much superior to a larger but badly selected sample.
 ….Contd
(v) Standard of accuracy and acceptable confidence level: If the standard of acuracy or the level of precision is
to be kept high, we shall require relatively larger sample. For doubling the accuracy for a fixed significance
level, the sample size has to be increased fourfold.
(vi) Availability of finance: In practice, size of the sample depends upon the amount of money available for the
study purposes. This factor should be kept in view while determining the size of sample for large samples result
in increasing the cost of sampling estimates.
(vii) Other considerations: Nature of units, size of the population, size of questionnaire, availability of trained
investigators, the conditions under which the sample is being conducted, the time available for completion of the
study are a few other considerations to which a researcher must pay attention while selecting the size of the
sample.
DETERMINATION OF SAMPLE SIZE THROUGH THE APPROACH
BASED ON PRECISION RATE AND CONFIDENCE LEVEL

• Researcher will have to specify the precision that he wants in respect of his estimates concerning the
population parameters. For instance, a researcher may like to estimate the mean of the universe within  3 of
the true mean with 95 per cent confidence. In this case we will say that the desired precision is 3, i.e., if the
sample mean is Rs 100, the true value of the mean will be no less than Rs 97 and no more than Rs 103.

• In other words, all this means that the acceptable error, e, is equal to 3. Keeping this in view, we can now
explain the determination of sample size so that specified precision is ensured.
DETERMINATION OF SAMPLE SIZE THROUGH THE APPROACH
BASED ON PRECISION RATE AND CONFIDENCE LEVEL

• Researcher will have to specify the precision that he wants in respect of his estimates concerning the
population parameters. For instance, a researcher may like to estimate the mean of the universe within  3 of
the true mean with 95 per cent confidence. In this case we will say that the desired precision is 3, i.e., if the
sample mean is Rs 100, the true value of the mean will be no less than Rs 97 and no more than Rs 103.

• In other words, all this means that the acceptable error, e, is equal to 3. Keeping this in view, we can now
explain the determination of sample size so that specified precision is ensured.
 Blackboard
Assessment Pattern

Components HT-1 HT-2 Assignment Surprise Test Business Quiz GD Forum Attendance Scaled
Marks

Max. Marks 10 10 6 4 4 4 2 40

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References
• Textbooks / Reference Books
• T1 Cooper, D., Schindler, P. 2106. Business Research Methods, 9th Edition,
Tata McGraw Hill, India ISBN: 9781259001857.
• T2 Malhotra, N. 2110. Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation, 6th
Edition, Pearson Publication, India, ISBN: 9781292103129
• T3 Kothari, C. 2104. Research Methodology – Methods and Techniques, 2nd
Edition, New Age International, ISBN: 9788122424881
• R1 Nargundkar, R. 2102. Marketing Research, 4th Ed., Tata McGraw Hill,
India, ISBN: 9780070221874
• https://statisticsbyjim.com/hypothesis-testing/sampling-error/
• https://www.statisticshowto.com/probability-and-statistics/statistics-
definitions/sampling-frame/

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