1332.0.55.002 - Statistical Language!, 2008  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/06/2008  First Issue
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All  
Contents >> Population, Sample and Estimate >> Which to use in a survey - Population or Sample?

WHICH TO USE IN A SURVEY - POPULATION OR SAMPLE?

Many factors must be considered when developing a survey. In most situations the best statistics come from using the whole population. But for various reasons this is not always practical. The type of information obtained will be affected by the type of survey conducted and data collected. Some of these are listed below.

Time - It takes time to run a survey, surveying an entire population can be very long.

Expense - Conducting a survey for an entire population can be expensive for large populations.

Accuracy - The larger the sample the more likely it will display the characteristics of the population.

Information - A large sample can be further broken down to smaller subgroups for detailed analysis.

Confidentiality - When personal information is collected in the ABS surveys must be large enough so that no individual can be identified.




Previous PageNext Page