CHAPTER 10

SAMPLING STRATEGIES

Business Research Methods

 CENSUS, SAMPLING AND SURVEY
Census and Sampling are methods of
collecting data from the population.
Survey is a research strategy that collects
standardised data from a large number of
respondents.
To put the three terms together, a Sample
surveys a portion (or a subset) of a population
while a Census surveys every element in the
population.

Business Research Methods

POPULATION AND POPULATION
ELEMENTS
Population in research refers to a complete
group of people (e.g., students, employees,
teachers, managers, patients or customers) or
institutions (e.g., households, stores, schools,
hospitals or firms) that share some common
set of characteristics.
Population element refers to an individual
member in the population. Example: If
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) students are
the population of the study, the population
element would be the individual student.

Business Research Methods

WHEN IS SAMPLING NOT USED?
Usually for a population size of fewer
than 50, it is more appropriate to
collect data from the entire
population, so no sampling is
required.
It is also more appropriate to do a
census study. Example: suppose the
target population is health tourism
hospitals in Malaysia. The sampling
frame lists the names of 41 health
tourism hospitals recognised by the
Ministry of Health. The population size
is small, suggesting that a census
study is possible, and all 41 hospitals
should be surveyed in a census study.
Business Research Methods
 WHEN IS SAMPLING USED?
We hardly know who makes up the
entire population.
Cost and time constraints
There is a lot of error to control and
monitor
Lists are rarely up to date
Destruction of the Sampling Unit
The sample data are sufficient for
decision making

Business Research Methods

SAMPLING FOR QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE
STUDIES

Business Research Methods

STEPS IN SAMPLING

Business Research Methods

IDENTIFY THE TARGET POPULATION

The target population of a research

topic is defined by the researcher and
needs to be clearly identified at the
beginning of a study.
The study should be based on a clear
understanding of who or what is of
interest, as well as the type of
information required from that
population.

Business Research Methods

 DETERMINE THE SAMPLING FRAME
A sampling frame is a list that records all population elements.
Once a target population is chosen, sampling frame availability
can be determined. Example: the sampling frame for a study
that assesses UPM students satisfaction level would be a list of
students provided by the registrar of UPM. If the population size
of UPM students is 25,000, the sampling frame should list
25,000 student names and contact details.
There are also times when a sampling frame is not available.
Example: international tourists are the target population, but a
sampling frame that consists of the names of all international
tourists coming to Malaysia is highly confidential (for security
reasons) and therefore not available to the researcher.

Business Research Methods

 DETERMINE SAMPLING STRATEGY
The purpose of a sampling strategy is to select sampling
units (e.g., female consumers) as a sample (e.g., 500 female
consumers) from the population (e.g., 10 million).

Business Research Methods

Business Research Methods
 Probability Sampling Techniques
1. Simple Random Sampling
Technique
- This follows a lucky draw
procedure, where every unit in
the population has an equal
chance of being selected. First,
you assign a running number
to each unit in the sampling
frame. Then, you select a unit
randomly accordingly to the
number suggested by a
random table.
Business Research Methods
2. Systematic Random Sampling Technique

In this procedure, the first unit is

selected at random (following
random numbers). Then, the
subsequent unit is picked with kth
interval.
Say k=10 and the first random
number is 7 (from a random table).
You simply pick sampling unit
numbers 7, 17, 27, 37 and so on.

Business Research Methods

 3. Stratified Random Sampling Technique
The purpose of this technique is
to provide fair representation of
subgroups. First, the population
is broken into strata
(homogeneous groups).
Elements in a strata share
similar characteristics. Then,
within each strata list, a
sampling unit is picked
randomly.

Business Research Methods

4. Cluster Random Sampling
Population is broken into
heterogeneous groups or
clusters. Each cluster consists
of units with very different
characteristics.
For example, Malaysia has 13
states, representing 13
clusters where each cluster
has male and female teachers.
Within each cluster, a unit is
selected randomly (following
random numbers).
Business Research Methods
 Non-probability Sampling Techniques
1. Convenient Sampling
Technique
- This technique is completely
based on the convenience of
the researcher. Thus, the
selection is of those who
happen to be at the data-
collection venue. Units are
selected conveniently.
Elements not at the data-
collection venue have no
chance of being selected.
Business Research Methods
2. Judgemental Sampling Technique
This technique imposes
judgements such as, for
example, Malaysians who have
travelled to 10 countries or
more, as they are presumed to
have rich information on issues
of interest (e.g., travel
experience). Thus, it
approaches units that meet the
criteria conveniently

Business Research Methods

 3. Quota Sampling Technique
Its purpose is to have fair representation of subgroups
in the sample.
It is very similar to Stratified Sampling. The difference
is that Stratified Sampling selects units from each
strata randomly, while with this technique units within
each subgroup are selected conveniently until the
quota is achieved.

Business Research Methods

Business Research Methods
 4. Snowball Sampling Technique
The initial respondents are
identified conveniently through
friends and any subsequent
respondent is referred by a first
respondent. This is most
commonly used when dealing
with rare populations (e.g., cancer
survivors).

Business Research Methods

DETERMINE SAMPLE SIZE (Quantitative)
1. Use a sample size calculator that is available
online.
2. Following a statistical rule, the desired ratio of
sample size to construct numbers should be 20:1
(Hair, Anderson, Tatham and Black 1998).
3. A minimum sample size of 30 is required for
statistical analysis of each category within the
overall sample.
4. The desired data analysis method plays a role in
determining sample size.

Business Research Methods

DETERMINE SAMPLE SIZE (Qualitative)
The sample size requirements usually follow the rule of
data saturation.
The theoretical sample size is a general guideline.
Qualitative research that aims to understand a fairly
homogeneous population requires 12 in-depth interviews
(Guest et al., 2006) while for a fairly heterogonous
population, 25-30 interviews are needed (Creswell, 2007).

Business Research Methods

SELECT THE ACTUAL SAMPLING UNIT
Select the individual unit for the sample based on the
sampling procedure of the chosen sampling technique.
Then collect data from the sampling unit (e.g., employees,
tourists or teachers) using the methods, such as
questionnaires, interviews or observations, for primary
data collection.

Business Research Methods