Okuzeka
Academic English & Research vocabulary · Research Design

Random sampling

Meaning in academic english & research, with examples

nounCommon term

In academic english & research, random sampling means: A way of choosing a sample in which every member of the population has an equal and known chance of being selected.

In Turkish: seçkisiz örnekleme, rastgele örnekleme, rastlantısal örnekleme

How it is used

Random sampling supports generalizing from the sample to the population; stratified and cluster sampling are variants. Many studies instead use non-random methods such as convenience or purposive sampling and should say so openly. Do not confuse it with random assignment to groups.

Example sentences

  1. Schools were selected through stratified random sampling by region.

  2. Because we used convenience rather than random sampling, the results may not generalize.

Common collocations

  • simple random sampling
  • stratified random sampling
  • random sample
  • convenience sampling
  • purposive sampling
  • sampleThe smaller group of people, items or texts selected from a larger population for a study, so that conclusions can be drawn about that population.
  • populationThe whole group of people, cases or items that a study is about and from which a smaller sample is usually drawn.
  • generalizabilityThe extent to which the findings of a study can be applied to other people, places or situations beyond the sample studied.
  • quantitativeDescribing research that collects numerical data and uses statistics to measure, compare or test relationships, often with larger samples.

More terms: Research Design

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: