ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses sampling and explores the characteristics of a representative sample. It illustrates the relationship among confidence interval, confidence level, and sampling error. It then examines the uses and the mechanics of sampling, of choosing a relatively small number of cases that may tell about the larger population from which have been selected. A representative sample is one in which every major attribute of the larger population from which the sample is drawn is present in roughly the proportion or frequency with which those attributes occur in that larger population. In order to provide both the capability to reflect accurately the complexities of a population and some measure of confidence in their procedures for doing so, researchers draw upon certain techniques developed by statisticians. The technique of systematic random sampling has one major advantage over simple random sampling ease of application to large populations that meet the criterion of central listing and it has many potential uses.
