⊿ Point. {R} Glossary. ◢ Keyword: S. ◥ University. {q} PhD. {tr} Training. ⚫ UK. ↂ EndNote. ☝️ Weerakkody. Simple random sample. Introduction[edit] The principle of simple random sampling is that every set of items has the same probability of being chosen. For example, suppose N college students want to get a ticket for a basketball game, but there are only X < N tickets for them, so they decide to have a fair way to see who gets to go.
Then, everybody is given a number in the range from 0 to N-1, and random numbers are generated, either electronically or from a table of random numbers. Numbers outside the range from 0 to N-1 are ignored, as are any numbers previously selected. The first X numbers would identify the lucky ticket winners. In small populations and often in large ones, such sampling is typically done "without replacement", i.e., one deliberately avoids choosing any member of the population more than once. An unbiased random selection of individuals is important so that if many samples were drawn, the average sample would accurately represent the population. Equal probability sampling (epsem)[edit] 1.