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Home→The Westburn Dictionary of Marketing→R→random sampling

random sampling

Definition:
The drawing of a SAMPLE in which every member of the POPULATION being sampled has an equal chance of being selected. Other than in controlled experimental situations this is almost impossible to achieve. To begin with one must have a complete SAMPLING FRAME listing every member of the population. While the REGISTER OF ELECTORS is updated every year it is known that approximately 4 per cent of eligible voters will be omitted for one reason or another while over the year many will move or die so that by the end of the year it may be only 80 per cent accurate (even less in areas with a highly mobile population). Further, if one were to seek to interview a random sample drawn from the Register many would not be available at the time of calling or would refuse to co-operate. For all these reasons most market researchers will use a probabilistic sampling method but based on strata or quotas with defined procedures for replacing 'missing' respondents.

Cross-References:
[samples] [sampling frame] [Register of Electors] [sampling]

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© Westburn Publishers Ltd 2002, The Westburn Dictionary of Marketing edited by Michael J Baker, ISBN 978-0-946433-01-8. www.themarketingdictionary.com. Entry: [Michael J. Baker], [1998].