ABSTRACT
Sampling involves the selection from the total population of a subset of individuals upon
which measurements will be made; the measurements made on this subset (or sample) will
then be used to estimate the properties (or parameters) of the total population. Sampling is
inherent to any field research program in soil science because the measurement of the total
population is impossible for any realistic study. For example, even a single 10 ha field
contains about 100,000 1 m2 soil pits or 1107 10 cm2 cores, and sampling of the entire population would be more of an unnatural obsession than a scientific objective.
