Sampling and Data collection

By:
Anas Hussein
RSDD
 Sampling
In clinical research, we usually study a sample of individuals
who are assumed to be representative of a wider group, to
whom (with a good research design and appropriate sampling)
the research might apply. This wider group is known as the
target population.
 Advantages of Sampling
1- Saves time, effort and money, while gives the required data.
2- Allows fulfillment of work with limited resources (manpower,
equipment and financing).
3- Decrease possible errors
 Classification of sampling
Sampling methods in clinical research can be classified into two major categories:
 Random/Probability sampling methods: all subjects in the target population
have equal chances to be selected in the sample

 Non-random/Non-probability sampling methods: the sample population is

selected in a process that does not guarantee equal chances for each subject in
the target population. This can be useful for quick surveys or where it is difficult to
get access to the whole population
Non-randomized sampling methods
 Convenience, haphazard or accidental sampling
Members of the population are chosen based on their relative ease of access.
To sample friends, co-workers, or shoppers at a single mall, are all examples of
convenience sampling. Such samples are biased because researchers may
unconsciously approach some kinds of respondents and avoid others, and respondents
who volunteer for a study may differ in unknown but important ways from others
If you might choose to stand in the main cafeteria during lunchtime and
approach the first 50 students you see to ask them about their snack
preferences. This method is convenient because you're surveying people who
are readily available to you at that moment.
However, it's important to note that this sampling method has limitations.
The people you approach might not represent the entire student population;
they could have similar schedules, preferences, or habits that may not be
reflective of the broader university community. Convenience sampling is easy
to implement but may not provide a representative sample of the entire
population, leading to potential biases in your results.
 Snowball sampling
Snowball sampling is especially useful when you are trying to reach
populations that are inaccessible or hard to find e.g. Drug addicts,
homosexuals, prostitutes, etc. The first respondent refers another
colleague. The friend also refers a friend, and so on. Such samples are
biased because they give people with more social connections an
unknown but higher chance of selection, but lead to higher response
rates.
Imagine you're organizing a surprise party for a friend, but you don't know many people in
their social circle. You start by asking your friend for the names of a couple of close friends
who might help you organize the event.
Identify an Initial Participant: Your friend provides you with the name of one friend, Alex,
who is close to them.
Contact the Initial Participant (Alex): You reach out to Alex and explain your plan. Alex is
excited about the surprise party and offers to help. During your conversation, you ask Alex for
the names of a few more friends who might be interested in assisting with the surprise.
Ask for Referrals: Alex provides you with the names of two more friends, Jac and john, who
might be willing to help organize the party.
Contact Referred Participants (Jac and john): You contact Jac and john, explaining the
surprise party idea and seeking their assistance. Both Jac and john express interest and offer
additional suggestions for people who could contribute to the event.
Repeat the Process: You continue this process, asking each new person you contact for more
suggestions, gradually expanding your network of helpers for the surprise party.

In this simplified example, just like in snowball sampling, you start with one person, and as
they provide you with contacts, your network grows. It's a way of tapping into existing social
connections to reach a larger group, even when you don't have a complete list of potential
participants initially.
 Judgmental sampling

The researcher chooses the sample based on who they think

would be appropriate for the study. This is used primarily
when there is a limited number of people that have
expertise in the area being researched, or when the interest
of the research is on a specific field or a small group.
Imagine you are a researcher studying the opinions of experts in the field of artificial
intelligence. Instead of randomly selecting participants, you decide to use purposive
sampling to specifically target individuals who are recognized as experts in AI.
In this case, you might identify and select experts based on criteria such as:
1-Number of published papers in AI.
2-Years of experience working in the AI industry.
3-Recognized awards or achievements in the field of AI.
You purposefully choose participants who meet these criteria because you believe they
can provide valuable insights into your research topic. This method allows you to focus
on a specific subgroup of the population that is most relevant to your study.
Imagine you're organizing a surprise party for a friend, but you don't know many people in
their social circle. You start by asking your friend for the names of a couple of close friends
who might help you organize the event.
Identify an Initial Participant: Your friend provides you with the name of one friend, Alex,
who is close to them.
Contact the Initial Participant (Alex): You reach out to Alex and explain your plan. Alex is
excited about the surprise party and offers to help. During your conversation, you ask Alex for
the names of a few more friends who might be interested in assisting with the surprise.
Ask for Referrals: Alex provides you with the names of two more friends, Sarah and Chris,
who might be willing to help organize the party.
Randomized sampling methods
 Simple random sample
The most important consideration is that any sample should be representative of the
population from which it is taken (i.e. the different population characteristics are
represented in the sample and in more or less the same proportions; hence the sample
is described as being representative). In simple random sampling, the researchers list
the target population from A to Z (from the first to the last one) then select the
required sample by simple randomization technique: computer software, random
number generator, randomization tables, …etc.
For instance, if you have 50 students in the class and you want a sample of 10 students,
you randomly select 10 numbers from 1 to 50. The students corresponding to those
numbers are the ones included in your simple random sample.
The key idea here is that every student has an equal chance of being selected. This
randomness helps ensure that the sample is representative of the entire class,
minimizing biases that might arise if, for example, you only chose students sitting in
the front row or those you know well.
Simple random sampling is a straightforward and unbiased method for selecting a
sample from a larger population, making it a valuable tool in research when you want
to ensure each member of the population has an equal chance of being included.
 Stratified random sample
It is a form of random sample where the target population is first divided (stratified)
into a suitable number of strata of the different attributes and variables, as age, sex
occupation, socioeconomic status and residence. Out of each stratum, a random
sample is drawn (and subdivided into study and control groups if necessary). The final
sample will thus be the sum of samples of the strata.
Advantage: when the distribution of disease or problem under study is not uniform
among the strata of a given variable of the target population, stratification of the
population into homogeneous groups gives accurate data.
Imagine you are conducting a survey in a high school to understand the academic
performance of students. Instead of selecting students randomly from the entire school,
you decide to use a stratified random sample to ensure that you get a representative
sample from different grade levels.
Here's how you might do it:
Identification of Strata: Divide the students into different strata based on their grade
levels. For simplicity, let's say there are three grades: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
Random Sampling within Strata: Within each grade level, use a random method (such
as a random number generator) to select a certain number of students. For example, if
you want to survey 10 students from each grade, you would randomly select 10 students
from the 1st-grade, 10 from the 2nd-grade, and 10 from the 3rd-grade.
By using stratified random sampling, you ensure that you have representation
from each grade level in your sample. This can be important because
academic performance might vary across different grades, and you want your
sample to reflect that diversity.
Stratified random sampling is particularly useful when the population can be
naturally divided into distinct subgroups (strata) and you want to ensure that
each subgroup is adequately represented in your sample. This method allows
for more precise analysis of each subgroup and can increase the overall
representativeness of the sample.
 Systematic random sample
If a study is carried out in a village or camp, for example and a
random sample is needed, houses of the village are numbered,
or individuals of the camp listed. Then the first house, or
individual, is randomly chosen, followed by every (n)th, e.g. 5th,
10th or 15th. to the end of the group according to the sample
size
Imagine you are a researcher studying the opinions of customers in a large shopping
mall. Instead of selecting customers randomly, you decide to use a systematic random
sample.
Here's how it might work:
List the Population: Create a list of all the customers visiting the shopping mall during
a specific time period.
Determine the Sampling Interval: Decide on a sampling interval, which is the
number of customers between each selected participant. For example, if you want to
survey every 10th customer and there are 100 customers during the time period, your
sampling interval is 10.
Randomly Select a Starting Point: Use a random method, like selecting a random
number between 1 and 10, to choose a starting point. Let's say you randomly choose 3.

Systematic Sampling: Start with the third customer and then select every 10th customer
thereafter. So, you would survey customers 3, 13, 23, 33, and so on.
The key characteristic of systematic random sampling is the use of a fixed interval after
selecting a random starting point. This method provides a balance between the simplicity
of simple random sampling and the structure of stratified sampling.
Systematic random sampling is efficient and can provide a representative sample when
there is a regular pattern in the population. However, it assumes that the population is
randomly ordered or that any systematic patterns do not coincide with the sampling
interval.
 Cluster sample
Some studies are carried out among clusters (confined groups) and not the
general group, of the population. Important Clusters are schoolchildren,
industrial workers, camp members, and households. After identifying the
clusters, certain clusters are chosen using simple random sampling while the
others remain unrepresented in a study; only individuals within selected
clusters are surveyed
Imagine you are a researcher studying the preferences of TV shows in a town with multiple
neighborhoods. Instead of surveying every household, you decide to use a cluster sampling
approach.
Identify Clusters: Divide the town into clusters based on neighborhoods. Each
neighborhood is a cluster.
Randomly Select Clusters: Use a random method to select a few neighborhoods. Let's say
you randomly choose three neighborhoods out of ten in the town.
Survey All within Selected Clusters: Instead of surveying every household in those three
neighborhoods, you survey all households within those selected neighborhoods.
So, in this simplified example, you're not individually selecting households; you're treating
entire neighborhoods as your sampling units. This makes the survey more manageable
while still providing insights into the overall preferences of the town.
Remember, the key idea with cluster sampling is to randomly
select groups (clusters) and then survey all members within
those selected groups, rather than surveying individuals
randomly across the entire population.
 Multi-stage random sample
It is from of random sampling that can be applied in national or
widespread studies, where the field of work is arranged into
levels or stages. The first level is the governorates, then the
cities and towns, then districts and villages and lastly families
and individuals. A random sample is successively drawn from
each stage.
Imagine you want to understand the opinions of students in a big university about
their campus experience. Instead of surveying every student, you decide to use a multi-
stage random sampling approach.
Stage 1 - Dividing into Clusters: The university is divided into clusters based on
departments. Each department is a cluster.
Randomly Select Clusters: Use a random method to choose a few departments. Let's
say you randomly select three departments out of ten.
Stage 2 - Subdivide the Clusters: Within each selected department, further divide it
into classes or courses.
Randomly Select Sub-Clusters: Use a random method to choose specific classes
within each of the three selected departments.
Stage 3 - Survey at the Smallest Level: Finally, within each selected class, you
conduct your survey on individual students.
So, instead of surveying all students across the entire university, you've taken a step-
by-step approach. First, you randomly chose departments, then within those
departments, you randomly chose specific classes, and finally, you surveyed students
within those selected classes.
This multi-stage process helps make the study more manageable while still ensuring
that you gather insights from different departments and classes, making the sample
representative of the entire university
 Sample size
A common question posed to a biostatistician from a medical researcher is “How
many subjects do I need to obtain a significant result for my study?”.
Factors that Affect the Sample Size of a Research Study
There is no fixed size of sample, it varies according to certain determining factors:
1. Available resources and facilities: time, personnel, equipment and money.
2. Prevalence of the disease or problem: the lower the prevalence, the larger the
size and vice versa.
3. Variability of the group: the many the subdivisions and subgroups, the
larger the sample size, so as to get a reasonable number of cases in each of
the many categories.
1.Available Resources:
Think about the time, people, money, and equipment you
have for your study. Your sample size should be something
you can manage with the resources you have. If you have a
lot of resources, you might be able to study more people.
2.Variability in Characteristics:
Imagine you're studying something like education levels. If
people in your group are all similar in their education, you
might not need as many people in your study. But if there's a
big range in education levels, you might need a larger group
to get a good picture of what's going on.
3.Prevalence of the Disease or Problem:
If what you're studying is not very common (like a rare
disease), you might need a bigger group to make sure you get
enough cases to study. If it's something a lot of people have,
you might get away with studying fewer people.
4.Variability of the Group:
If you're looking at different kinds of people or subgroups
(like age groups or income levels), the more categories you
have, the more people you might need to study. This helps
you make sure you're not missing important information
from any specific group.
In simple terms, the size of your group depends on how
much you have to work with, how much the things you're
studying vary, how common or rare they are, and how many
different types of people you're looking at. It's about finding
a balance so you can get good results without using too many
resources.
 Learn how to determine sample size
To choose the correct sample size, you need to consider a few different factors that
affect your research then you’ll be able to use a sample size formula:
Population Size:
How many people are you studying in total? If it's a big group, you might need a larger
sample size to get accurate results.
Margin of Error:
Think of this as the "wiggle room" in your results. If you're doing a survey and say "68% of
people like chocolate with a margin of error of +/- 5%," it means the actual number might be
anywhere from 63% to 73%.
Confidence Level:
This is about how sure you want to be that your results are right. If you say you're 95%
confident, it means you're pretty sure your results are accurate, but there's still a small chance
they could be off.
Standard Deviation:
This is like a measure of how spread out the numbers might be. If you're not sure what it is, a
safe guess (before you do your study) is to assume there's a bit of variation, like "plus or minus
5%.“
Now, the sample size formula takes all these things into account and helps you figure out how
many people you should study to get reliable results. It's like a math recipe that considers the
size of the group, how much room for error you're okay with, how confident you want to be,
and how much you think the numbers might vary.
 Methods of data collection
Data can be collected from either available sources or from field studies.
A- Available sources:
1- The Census
2- Records of the Health office which include: births, deaths, compulsory immunizations
and infectious diseases
3- Case Records from hospitals, outpatient clinics and other medical centers have records
for registration of their activities (clinical, surgical, laboratory and emergency) which
provide valuable data.
B. Research work and field studies: Sometimes the required data for planning and
evaluation of health programs are not available, or unreliable.The data can be obtained
through research work and survey studies using suitable questionnaires.