The document discusses the key differences between population and sample in research. Population refers to the entire group being studied, while a sample is a subset of the population selected for a study. It is typically not feasible to study the entire population due to constraints of time, cost, and accessibility. Therefore, researchers draw samples from populations to make inferences about characteristics, trends, or behaviors of the overall population. The sample should be representative of the population to ensure the validity of generalizing results back to the target population.

1. POPULATION and
SAMPLE
West Visayas State University
College of Education, Graduate School
Prepared by:
LORLIE A. ABIERA
PhD Educational Management
Discussant

2. • A high school administrator
wants to analyze the final
exam scores of all graduating
seniors to see if there is a
trend.
• Is it possible to use the whole
population of graduating
seniors?

3. Population
● The group of interest to the researcher
● The group to whom the researcher
would like to generalize the results of
the study

4. Examples of Population
● All high school principals in the Schools
Division of Iloilo
● All secondary school counselors in the
Schools Division of Antique

5. ● The population can be any size and that it will
have at least one (and sometimes several)
characteristic that sets it off from other
population
● A population is always all of the individuals
who possess certain characteristics or set of
characteristics

6. ● Population of interest in educational
research– a group of persons (students,
teachers, or other individuals) who possess
certain characteristics
● In some cases, population may be defined as
a group of classrooms, schools or even
facilities

7. Collecting Data from Population
● Populations are used when your research
question requires, or when you have access
to, data from every member of the population.
● Usually, it is only straightforward to collect
data from a whole population when it is small,
accessible and cooperative.

8. Target versus Accessible Populations
● Target population- the actual population to
which the researcher would really like to
generalize
 The researchers’ ideal choice
● Accessible population- the population to which
the researcher is able to generalize
○ The researcher’s realistic choice

9. Example:
Research problem to be investigated- The effects
of computer assisted instruction on the reading
achievement of first and second graders in the
Schools Division of Antique
Target population – all first and second grade
children in the Schools Division of Antique

10. Example:
Accessible population – all first and second grade
children in the District of San Jose, Antique
Sample – Ten percent of the first and second grade
children in the District of San Jose

11. Example:
Research problem to be investigated- The attitudes
of fifth-year teachers in training toward their student
teaching experience
Target population – all fifth year students enrolled in
teacher-training programs in the United States

12. Example:
Accessible population – All fifth year students
enrolled in teacher training programs in the
University of New York
Sample – Two hundred fifth year students selected
from those enrolled in the teacher training programs
in the State University of New York

13. • The more narrowly researchers define population,
the more they save on time, effort, money but the
more they limit generalizability
• It is essential that researchers describe the
population and the sample in sufficient detail so that
interested individuals can determine the
applicability of the findings to their own situations

14. How do scientists track migratory animals?
● They tag the sample of the population and
track the sample
● They use the sample to gather statistical data
about the population

15. ● A researcher might want to study the adverse
health effects associated with working in a
coal mine. However, it would be impossible to
study a large population of coal workers. So,
the researcher would need to narrow down the
population and build a sample to collect data.
This sample might be a group of coal workers
in one city.

16. Sample
● In a research study, a sample is a
group on which an information is
obtained
● Selected from population
● Subset of the population

18. ● Most population of interest are large, diverse,
and scattered over a large geographic area.
● The researcher often select a sample to
study.
Example: .
A researcher is interested in studying the effects of diet
on the attention span of third grade students in a large city.
There are 1500 third graders attending the elementary schools in
the city. The researcher selects 150 of these third graders, 30
each in 5 different schools as sample of the study

19. Reasons for Sampling
● Necessity-
● Practicality-
● Cost effectiveness-
● Manageability

20. A sample should generally :
● Satisfy all different variations present in the
population as well as a well-defined selection
criterion.
● Be utterly unbiased on the properties of the
objects being selected.
● Be random to choose the objects of study fairly.

21. Why are samples important?
● within many models of scientific research, it is
impossible (from both a strategic and a resource
perspective) to study all the members of a
population for a research project
○ It just costs too much and takes too much
time.

22. ● Instead, a selected few participants (who make up
the sample) are chosen to ensure that the sample
is representative of the population.
○ then the results from the sample can be
inferred to the population, which is exactly the
purpose of inferential statistics—using
information on a smaller group of participants
to infer to the group of all participants.

23. • Identify the sample and the population in the
given situation:
• Population- all the registered voters
• Sample- 1000 voters who were surveyed
The mayor survey 1000 voters if they approve the
job she is doing.

24. ○ Sampling yields significant research result.
However, with the differences that can be present
between a population and a sample, sample errors
can occur.
○ Therefore, knowing the difference between sample
and population, makes the researcher use the most
relevant and useful sampling method so that error
can be avoided.

25. Summary
● Population refers to the collection of all elements possessing
common characteristics while sample means a subgroup of the
members of population chosen for participation of the study
● Population includes each and every unit of the group and focus
on identifying the characteristics of the group while sample
includes only a handful of units of population making inferences
about the population
● The more representative the sample of the population, the more
confident the researcher can be in the quality of the results.

26. References
Bhandari, P. (2021). Population vs Sample. Retrieved from Scribb.com
on March 9. 2022
Wallen, N.E, Fraenkel. Jack R., Hyun, H. H (2012). How To Design and
Evaluate Research in Education. Mc Graw Hill