MCS 3030 Chapter 12: RM Chapter 12
Document Summary
Sample: a subset of some larger population that is measured or observed in some way to infer what the entire population is like. Population (universe): any complete group of entities that share some common set of characteristics. Population element: an individual member of a population. Census: an investigation involving measurement of all the individual elements that make up a population. Pragmatic reasons: it would be impossible to research everyone based on budgets and time constraints, so sampling makes sense, however if population is small, no inferential statistics are needed. Destruction of test units: many quality-control testings require destruction of items being tested, sampling allows test to be run without ruining all of the products. Before taking a sample, must make several decisions: de ne target population, select sampling frame, determine if a probability or non-probability sampling method will be chosen, plan procedure for selecting sampling units, determine sampling size. Thursday, november 10, 2016: select actual sampling units, conduct eldwork.