ABSTRACT
In statistics, quality assurance, and survey methodology, sampling is the selection of a subset of individuals or transactions from within a population to estimate characteristics of the whole population. Two advantages of sampling are that the cost is lower and data collection is faster than measuring the entire population. In internal audit, sampling is widely used for gathering information about a population, verifying that certain conditions or practices are employed, and the items meet the governing specifications. Sampling includes several stages: Defining the population of interest, specifying a sampling method for selecting items, determining the sample size, Implementing the sampling plan and testing and documentation. Sampling can be statistical or non-statistical. Sample sizes vary based on the population size, the rating of the risk, the number of times the control is performed, and the type of control.
