what is a random sampling ?

Answer 1

A random sampling means you have a large group and you select randomly a number of that group to study. For example, if you had a list of 200 names and selected every fifth name, that would would give you a random sample of 40. Or if you went to a telephone book and selected every eighth name, that would also be a random sample. That allows you the chance to study the group in a smaller number from which you may draw conclusions.

Chow!!

Answer 2

Imagine you want to find out how many women ate brown bread. The most accurate way to do this is to ask them all! But this is obviously extremely time consuming, vastly expensive and would come under the auspices of a census. In all polls or experiments, a sample of the population is required. But how can you be sure that the sample you pick is representive of all the women? The fact is that you cannot, but you try to engineeer the experiment/questionnaire to be as representive as possible to allow you to extrapolate your results to the wider population.

A number of ways to do this are used. You choose a size for your population sample, say 50 women that you perhaps work in the same company as you. But again these women are not necessarily representative of all women in different age groups, economic or educational groups. You could decide then to use the electoral register - but how do you choose your 50?
Random sampling is as the name suggests, random picking of names/numbers etc. But it is very difficult to be absolutely random. One very simple way is to put the whole register into a hat and pick out 50 names.
But usually a computer or a scientific calculator with a statistics component will do the job for you. Choose stat, then rand and it will generate random numbers. All you need to do is number your population, then pick the number the calculator shows.

Answer 3

It is the selection of a representation of a population chosen at random, where every individual of the population has an equal chance of being selected. Your population could be of people, numbers or any other variable. Normally to be truly random it is done by computer, because humans tend to follow patterns in selection. Picking every five of a list is not true randomization, unless the list is computer randomized, in which case it would be the same as picking the first 40 from 200 names.

Answer 4

Random sampling is a way to pick subjects for study. You pick the subject to study randomly so that outside influences will be minimized.

Lets say that you are studying horses. You ask someone for data on horses. But this person really likes mustangs and hates palominos they might be biased and give you more positive data on mustangs and poorer data on palominos. This would skewed your results and your report would be faulty.

However if random samples were taken both the mustangs and the palominos would be judged on a fair and equal basis.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

A random sampling is when a random group of people are selected for obsevation or surveying.

Answer 6

I kinda thought the term 'random sampling' was self-explanatory

Answer 7

It means that they asked a random group of people, could be people walking down the street on a particular day, or just whoever answered their phone for the survey. They did not choose which people to ask.

Answer 8

Random sampling is a number of things.
But really its a set group of numbers in a larger set of numbers.
say you have 100 numbers split them into 4 groups, 25 numbers that aren't in any particular order. and thats basicly what it is.

Answer 9

picking / choosing / analysing with no structure.

If i asked you to pick ten people in the street by a way of random sampling i would expect you to pick ANY ten people.

Answer 10

I suppose it depends on what kind of random sampling in biology you are sampling.......
~Peace~