Question

For the Systematic Sampling technique,

• give the steps that are required, and identify the step(s) in which randomness plays a role for this technique.
• Use your own terms to give at least one advantage, at least one disadvantage,
• and give an example showing how randomization can help this sampling avoid bias.

Answer 1

Systematic sampling is quick and convenient when you have a complete list of the members of your population.

When we are sampling from a population and want to make sure we get a fair representation of that population. else our statistics will be biased or skewed and perhaps meaningless. One way to get a fair and random sample is to assign a number to every population member and then choose the n^th member from that population.

#Steps

Step 1: Assign a number to every element in your population. For this simple example, let’s say you have a population of 100 people, so you’ll assign the numbers 1 to 100 to the group.

Step 2: Decide how large your sample size should be. See: Sample size (how to find one). For this example, let’s say you need a sample of 10 people.

Step 3: Divide the population by your sample size. For this example, your population is 100 and your sample size is 10, so:
100 / 10 = 10

For instance we have set { 1 ,2 3, 4 ......... 100)

if we sample every n = 10

our sample = > { 10,20,30,40,50,60,70,80,90,100 }

Advantage : Systematic samples are relatively easy to construct, execute, compare and understand.

Disadvantage : A population needs to exhibit a natural degree of randomness along the chosen metric. If the population has a type of standardized pattern, the risk of accidentally choosing very common cases is more apparent.

Since in the Systematic sampling the samples are chosen strictly by chance. This provides equal odds for every member of the population to be chosen as a participant in the study at hand. It’s imperative is to check and double check the methodology for creating accurately representative samples while considering the research project.