Scribd
Upload
26K views

Determining The Sample Size (Discrete Data)

To determine the appropriate sample size for estimating a proportion in a population, four key pieces of information are needed: the population size, desired margin of error, confidence level, and estimated proportion. The sample size formula uses these factors to calculate the minimum required samples to estimate the population proportion within the given margin of error and confidence level. Three examples demonstrate using a 95% confidence level and 5% margin of error to determine sample sizes of 385, 322, and 323 respectively for estimating smoking rates.

Uploaded by

Surbhi Jain
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
26K views

Determining The Sample Size (Discrete Data)

To determine the appropriate sample size for estimating a proportion in a population, four key pieces of information are needed: the population size, desired margin of error, confidence level, and estimated proportion. The sample size formula uses these factors to calculate the minimum required samples to estimate the population proportion within the given margin of error and confidence level. Three examples demonstrate using a 95% confidence level and 5% margin of error to determine sample sizes of 385, 322, and 323 respectively for estimating smoking rates.

Uploaded by

Surbhi Jain
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Sample Size Determination for Discrete Data:

Before you can calculate a sample size, you need to determine a few things about
the target population and the sample you need:
1. Population Size how many total people fit your demographic? For
instance, if you want to know about mothers living in the US, your population
size would be the total number of mothers living in the US. Dont worry if you
are unsure about this number. It is common for the population to be unknown
or approximated.
2. Margin of Error (Confidence Interval) No sample will be perfect, so you
need to decide how much error to allow. The confidence interval determines
how much higher or lower than the population mean you are willing to let
your sample mean fall. If youve ever seen a political poll on the news, youve
seen a confidence interval. It will look something like this: 68% of voters said
yes to Proposition Z, with a margin of error of +/- 5%.
3. Confidence Level How confident do you want to be that the actual mean
falls within your confidence interval? The most common confidence intervals
are 90% confident, 95% confident, and 99% confident.
4. Proportion What is your current estimate of the proportion of the
population

Sample Size for Discrete Data


Formula for determining sample size for discrete data is:

Z is the value from the standard normal distribution reflecting the confidence level
that will be used (e.g., Z = 1.96 for 95%)

E is the desired margin of error.


p is the proportion of successes in the population

Example 1: An investigator wants to estimate the proportion of freshmen


at his University who currently smoke cigarettes (i.e., the prevalence of
smoking). How many freshmen should be involved in the study to ensure
that a 95% confidence interval estimate of the proportion of freshmen who
smoke is within 5% of the true proportion?
Because we have no information on the proportion of freshmen who smoke, we use
0.5 to estimate the sample size as follows:

In order to ensure that the 95% confidence interval estimate of the proportion of
freshmen who smoke is within 5% of the true proportion, a sample of size 385 is
needed.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Example 2: To estimate the proportion of Malaysian males who smoke,


what sample size is required to achieve a 95% confidence interval of width
5% (that is to be within 5% of the true value)? A study some years ago
found that approximately 30% were smokers.
Answer
P = 0.30, = 0.05 and z = 1.96
n=(1.960.05)20.3(10.3)=322.69

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Example 3: In the Al Haouz project in Morocco, it has been estimated that roughly 30% (0.3) of the
children in the project area suffer from chronic malnutrition. This figure has been taken from
national statistics on malnutrition in rural areas. Use of the standard values listed above provides
the following calculation.
Answer
n=

1.96 x .3(1-.3)
.05
n = 3.8416 x .21
.0025
n = .8068
.0025
n = 322.72 ~ 323

To learn about margin of error:


http://stattrek.com/estimation/margin-of-error.aspx

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy