Simple Random Sampling

Simple random sampling (SRS) is a method of selection of a sample comprising of n a number of

sampling units out of the population having N number of sampling units such that every sampling
unit has an equal chance of being chosen.
The samples can be drawn in two possible ways.
 The sampling units are chosen without replacement because the units, once chosen, are not
placed back in the population.
 The sampling units are chosen with replacement because the selected units are placed back
in the population.
1. Simple random sampling without replacement (SRSWOR):
SRSWOR is a method of selection of n units out of the N units one by one such that at any stage of
selection, any one of the remaining units has the same chance of being selected, i.e., 1/ N.

2. Simple random sampling with replacement (SRSWR):

SRSWR is a method of selection of n units out of the N units one by one such that at each stage of
selection, each unit has an equal chance of being selected, i.e., 1/ N.

Procedure of selection of a random sample:

The procedure of selection of a random sample follows the following steps:
1. Identify the N units in the population with the numbers 1 to N.
2. Choose any random number arbitrarily in the random number table and start reading numbers.
3. Choose the sampling unit whose serial number corresponds to the random number drawn
from the table of random numbers.
4. In the case of SRSWR, all the random numbers are accepted even if repeated more than once.
In the case of SRSWOR, if any random number is repeated, then it is ignored, and more
numbers are drawn.

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Such a process can be implemented through programming and using the discrete uniform
distribution. Any number between 1 and N can be generated from this distribution, and the
corresponding unit can be selected in the sample by associating an index with each sampling unit.
Many statistical software like R, SAS, etc., have built-in functions for drawing a sample using
SRSWOR or SRSWR.

Probability of drawing a sample : SRSWOR:

N
If n units are selected by SRSWOR, the total number of possible samples are   .
n
1
So, the probability of selecting any one of these samples is .
N
 
n
Note that a unit can be selected at any one of the n draws. Let ui be the ith unit selected in the sample.
This unit can be selected in the sample either at the first draw, second draw, …, or nth draw.
Let
Pj (i) denotes the probability of selection of at the jth draw, j = 1,2,...,n. Then
ui
Pj (i)  P1 (i)  P2 (i)  ...  Pn (i)
1 1
   ... 
1 (n times)

N N N
n
 .
N

Now if u1, u2 ,..., are the n units selected in the sample, then the probability of their selection is
un

P(u1, u2 ,..., un )  P(u1 ).P(u2 ),..., P(un ).

Note that when the second unit is to be selected, then there are (n – 1) units left to be selected in the
sample from the population of (N – 1) units. Similarly, when the third unit is to be selected, there are
(n – 2) units left to be selected in the sample from the population of (N – 2) units and so on.

If P(u1) n
, then
 N
n 1 1
P(u ) ,..., P(u )  .

2
Thus

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N 1 n
N  n 1
1
P(u , u ,.., u ) n . n 1 . n  2 ... 1  .

1 2 n
N N 1 N  2 N  n 1  N 
 
n

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 Stratified Sampling
An important objective in any estimation problem is to obtain an estimator of a population parameter
that can take care of the salient features of the population. If the population is homogeneous with
respect to the characteristic under study, then the method of simple random sampling will yield a
homogeneous sample, and in turn, the sample mean will serve as a good estimator of the population
mean. Thus, if the population is homogeneous with respect to the characteristic under study, then the
sample drawn through simple random sampling is expected to provide a representative sample.
Moreover, the variance of the sample mean not only depends on the sample size and sampling fraction
but also on the population variance. To increase the precision of an estimator, we need to use a
sampling scheme that can reduce the heterogeneity in the population. If the population is
heterogeneous with respect to the characteristic under study, then one such sampling procedure is
stratified sampling.

The basic idea behind stratified sampling is to

 divide the whole heterogeneous population into smaller groups or subpopulations such that the
sampling units are homogeneous with respect to the characteristic under study within the
subpopulation and
 heterogeneous with respect to the characteristic under study between/among the
subpopulations. Such subpopulations are termed as strata.
 Treat each subpopulation as a separate population and draw a sample by SRS from each
stratum.
[Note: ‘Stratum’ is singular, and ‘strata’ is plural].

Example: In order to find the average height of the students in a school of class 1 to class 12, the
height varies a lot as the students in class 1 are of age around 6 years, and students in class 10 are of
age around 16 years. So, one can divide all the students into different subpopulations or strata, such as
Students of classes 1, 2, and 3: Stratum 1
Students of classes 4, 5, and 6: Stratum 2
Students of classes 7, 8, and 9: Stratum 3
Students of classes 10, 11, and 12: Stratum 4
Now draw the samples by SRS from each of the strata 1, 2, 3 and 4. All the drawn samples combined
together will constitute the final stratified sample for further analysis.

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Notations:
We use the following symbols and notations:
N : Population size
k : Number of strata
Ni : Number of sampling units in ith strata
k

N   Ni
i1

ni : Number of sampling units to be drawn from ith stratum.

k

n  ni : Total sample size

i1

Population (N units)

Stratum 1 Stratum 2 Stratum k

N1 units N2 units Nk units k
……… N
Ni

Sample Sample Sample k

1 2 ……… k n
n1 units n2 units nk units
n i

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Systematic Sampling

The systematic sampling technique is operationally more convenient than simple random sampling. It
also ensures, at the same time that each unit has an equal probability of inclusion in the sample. In this
method of sampling, the first unit is selected with the help of random numbers, and the remaining units
are selected automatically according to a predetermined pattern. This method is known as systematic
sampling.

Suppose the N units in the population are numbered 1 to N in some order. Suppose further that N is
expressible as a product of two integers n and k , so that
N  nk.

To draw a sample of size n ,

- select a random number between 1 and k .
- Suppose it is i .
- Select the first unit, whose serial number is i .
- Select every k
th unit after ith unit.

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 - The sample will contain i, i  k,1 2k,..., i  (n 1)k
serial number units.

So the first unit is selected at random and other units are selected systematically. This
systematic sample is called kth systematic sample and k is termed as a sampling interval.
This is also known as linear systematic sampling.
Advantages of systematic sampling:
1. It is easier to draw a sample and often easier to execute it without mistakes. This is
more advantageous when the drawing is done in fields and offices as there may be
substantial saving in time.
2. The cost is low, and the selection of units is simple. Much less training is needed for
surveyors to collect units through systematic sampling.