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Sample Survey

Definition

A sample survey is a method used to collect information about characteristics or opinions of a population by surveying a subset, or sample, of that population. It involves selecting a representative group and gathering data through questionnaires or interviews.

Analogy

Imagine you want to know what toppings people prefer on their pizza in your school. Instead of asking every single student, you randomly select a few students as your "sample" and ask them about their pizza preferences. The responses from the sample can give you an idea of the overall preferences of the entire school.

Related terms

Population: In statistics, population refers to the entire group of individuals or items that researchers are interested in studying.

Sampling Bias: Sampling bias occurs when the selection process for a sample is not random, leading to results that do not accurately represent the population.

Margin of Error: The margin of error is a measure of how much the results from a sample survey may differ from the true values in the population.