Sampling
It refers to selecting a group of people from a population to gather information on a
particular topic or product.
Sampling may be defined as the procedure in which a sample is selected from an
individual or a group of people of certain kind for research purpose.
The information is gathered without surveying every member from it.
Sampling method is used mainly when it is impossible to surveying the whole
population.
The sample must be the representation of the population the researcher has gathered
information from.
A sample refers to a group of people taking part in a market research survey selected
to be representative of the overall target market.
Advantages of sampling
It results in lower costs – If data were to be collected for the entire population, the
cost will be quite high. A sample is a small proportion of a population. So, the cost
will be lower if data is collected for a sample of population which is a big advantage.
Less time consuming in sampling – Use of sampling takes less time also. It
consumes less time than census technique. Tabulation, analysis etc., take much less
time in the case of a sample than in the case of a population.
It saves resources of a company –Since sample is of a small size, vast facilities are
not required. Sampling is therefore economical in respect of resources. Study of
samples involves less space and equipment.
Suitable to companies with limited resources – The resources available within an
organization may be limited. Studying the entire universe is not viable. The
population can be satisfactorily covered through sampling. Where limited resources
exist, use of sampling is an appropriate strategy while conducting marketing research.
Disadvantages of sampling
Likelihood of biased and inaccurate/misleading results – The serious limitation of
the sampling method is that it involves biased selection and thereby leads us to draw
erroneous conclusions. Large samples poorly selected can lead to inaccurate results.
Inadequate knowledge of sampling – Use of sampling method requires adequate
subject specific knowledge in sampling technique. Sampling involves statistical
analysis and calculation of probable error. When the researcher lacks specialized
knowledge in sampling, he may commit serious mistakes. Consequently, the results of
the study will be misleading.
It is not suitable in some situations – Deriving a representative sample is difficult,
when the universe is too small or too heterogeneous. In this case, census study is the
only alternative. Moreover, in studies requiring a very high standard of accuracy, the
sampling method may be unsuitable. There will be chances of errors even if samples
are drawn most carefully.
Sampling methods
The methods of sampling include the following:
1. Simple random sampling
Each sample element has known and equal chance (probability) of being selected.
Each member of the target population has an equal chance of being included in the
sample.
The approach is advantageous in that everyone has the opportunity to be chosen.
However, it can be quite time consuming because once the names have been selected.
The researcher will have to go and find the people.
2. Systematic sampling
In this method, the sample is selected by taking every nth item from the target
population until the desired size of sample is reached.
For example, suppose a supermarket wants to study the buying habits of its
customers. The sample could be chosen by asking every tenth customer entering the
supermarket until the required sample size had been reached.
It ensures that the sample is spread across the population
Can be costly and time-consuming if the sample is not conveniently located
3. Stratified sampling
This method recognises that the target population may be made up of many different
groups with many different opinions. These groups are called strata or layers of the
population, and for a sample to be accurate it should contain members of all of these
strata – hence the term, stratified sampling.
For example, if we want to know attitudes of students toward private tuitions, we
divide the total number of respondents (students) in various parts or strata such as first
year students, second year, third year, post graduate level, diploma level. Now, from
each of the stratum, a sample of appropriate number of students is selected. Sample
drawn from each of the stratum represents only that stratum. Final generalization is
drawn by combining response of all the samples drawn from each of the strata.
4. Quota sampling
This is similar to stratified sampling. By this method, interviewees are selected
according to the different proportions that certain consumer groups make up of the
whole target population.
For instance, if it is already known that out of all consumers of denim jeans:
■ 65% are male
■ 35% are female
■ 35% are aged 14–20
■ 35% are aged 21–30
■ 20% are aged 31–40
■ 41 10% are aged over 41
Then the sample selected would conform to the same proportions. Therefore, if there
were a sample of 200 people, 130 would be male, 70 female, 70 between 14 and 20
years old and so on.
5. Cluster sampling
When a full sampling frame list is not available or the target population is too
geographically dispersed, then cluster sampling will take a sample from just one or a
few groups – not the whole population. This might be just one town or region and this
will help to reduce costs – but it may not be fully representative of the whole
population.
