SAMPLING/

SURVEY RESEARCH
Instructor: Rachel La Touch
 Review: When in doubt
Probability samples are preferred because
they provide:
More accurate estimates of the population
Equal opportunity for every unit to be chosen
Less sampling bias and error

WHY?
 Why probability samples
work?
When your sample is sufficiently large, you can
estimate its accuracy as an approximation of
the population.

Probability samples work because of the central

limit theorem (Brooks Ch.2 & 3 for additional
help with this topic)
 Central Limit Theorem
+
Example
Example
Lets say for example we have a population of 4
people. Each person has a score from one to four
on an attractiveness scale.

Population
mean = 2.5
Person A: 1
Person B: 2
Person C: 3
Person D: 4
Central Limit Theorem
Example
Example
Lets say for example we have a population of 4
people. Each person has a score from one to four
on an attractiveness scale.

Population All Possible Samples

mean = 2.5 (sample size =3)
Person A: 1 ABC1,2,3
Person B: 2 ABD1,2,4
Person C: 3 CDA3,4,1
Person D: 4 BCD2,3,4
 Central Limit Theorem
Example
Example
Lets say for example we have a population of 4
people. Each person has a score from one to four +
on an attractiveness scale. 2.00
2.33
2.67
Population All Possible Samples Sample Means 3.00
mean= 2.5 (sample size =3) mean of means= 10
2.5 THEN
Person A: 1 ABC1,2,32.00 10/4=
2.5
Person B: 2 ABD1,2,4 2.33
Person C: 3 CDA3,4,1 2.67
Person D: 4 BCD2,3,4 3.00
Central Limit Theorem
The CLT is critical for statistical inference,
because when your sample is sufficiently
large and of good quality, the population
characteristics can be estimated accurately

The central limit theorem states that if

repeated random samples of size n are
drawn from any population having a mean
of and standard deviation of , then as n
becomes large, the sampling distribution
approaches normality.
What is sufficiently large?
What is a sufficiently large sample?
A large sample can yield accurate results
but excessive responses are pricey.
Therefore to estimate an ample sample
size, you need:
Population size
Margin of error
Confidence level