Cluster Sampling

In cluster sampling the units sampled are chosen in clusters, close to each other. Examples are households in the same street, or successive items off a production line. The population is divided into clusters, and some of these are then chosen at random. Within each cluster units are then chosen by simple random sampling or some other method. Ideally the clusters chosen should be dissimilar so that the sample is as representative of the population as possible. Advantages

saving of travelling time, and consequent reduction in cost

useful for surveying employees in a particular industry, where individual companies can form the clusters Disadvantages units close to each other may be very similar and so less likely to represent the whole population

larger sampling error than simple random sampling

Cluster sampling is a sampling technique used when "natural" groupings are evident in a statistical population. It is often used in marketing research. In this technique, the total population is divided into these groups (or clusters) and a sample of the groups is selected. Then the required information is collected from the elements within each selected group. This may be done for every element in these groups or a subsample of elements may be selected within each of these groups. The technique works best when most of the variation in the population is within the groups, not between them.

Cluster sampling refers to a sampling method that has the following properties.

The population is divided into N groups, called clusters.

The researcher randomly selects n clusters to include in the sample. The number of observations within each cluster Mi is known, and M = M1 + M2 + M3 + ... + MN-1 + MN.

Each element of the population can be assigned to one, and only one, cluster.

This tutorial covers two types of cluster sampling methods.

One-stage sampling. All of the elements within selected clusters are included in the sample.

Two-stage sampling. A subset of elements within selected clusters are randomly selected for inclusion in the sample.

Cluster Sampling: Advantages and Disadvantages

Assuming the sample size is constant across sampling methods, cluster sampling generally provides less precision than either simple random sampling or stratified sampling. This is the main disadvantage of cluster sampling. Given this disadvantage, it is natural to ask: Why use cluster sampling? Sometimes, the cost per sample point is less for cluster sampling than for other sampling methods. Given a fixed budget, the researcher may be able to use a bigger sample with cluster sampling than with the other methods. When the increased sample size is sufficient to offset the loss in precision, cluster sampling may be the best choice.

When to Use Cluster Sampling

Cluster sampling should be used only when it is economically justified - when reduced costs can be used to overcome losses in precision. This is most likely to occur in the following situations.

Constructing a complete list of population elements is difficult, costly, or impossible. For example, it may not be possible to list all of the customers of a chain of hardware stores. However, it would be possible to randomly select a subset of stores (stage 1 of cluster sampling) and then interview a random sample of customers who visit those stores (stage 2 of cluster sampling). The population is concentrated in "natural" clusters (city blocks, schools, hospitals, etc.). For example, to conduct personal interviews of operating room nurses, it might make sense to randomly select a sample of hospitals (stage 1 of cluster sampling) and then interview all of the operating room nurses at that hospital. Using cluster sampling, the interviewer could conduct many interviews in a single day at a single hospital. Simple

random sampling, in contrast, might require the interviewer to spend all day traveling to conduct a single interview at a single hospital. Even when the above situations exist, it is often unclear which sampling method should be used. Test different options, using hypothetical data if necessary. Choose the most cost-effective approach; that is, choose the sampling method that delivers the greatest precision for the least cost.
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Cluster Sampling

Definition
The target population is divided into mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive subpopulation called clusters. Then a random sample of clusters is selected based on probability sampling techniques such as simple random sampling. For each selected clusters, either all the elements are included in the sample or a sample of elements is drawn probabilistically.

Explanation
If all the elements in each selected cluster are included in the sample, the procedure is called one stage cluster sampling. If a sample of elements is drawn probabilistically from each selected cluster, the procedure is called two-stage cluster sampling. The key distinction between cluster sampling and stratified sampling is that in cluster sampling only a sample of subpopulations (clusters) is chosen, whereas in stratified sampling all the subpopulations are selected. The objective of the cluster sampling is to increase the sampling efficiency by decreasing costs.

Example
If the study requires studying the households in the city then in cluster sampling the whole city is divided into Blocks and to take each household on each block selected. Thus to get a representative whole of the universe.

Advantages
Low population heterogeneity / high population homogeneity Low expected cost of errors. The main advantage of cluster sampling is the low cost per sampling unit as compared to other sampling methods.

Disadvantage
High potential of sampling error as compared to other methods. For eg: The lower cost per unit and higher sampling error potential of a cluster sample is illustrated by considering a sample of 100 households to be selected for personal interviews from a particular city. In this method the city would be divided in blocks and 10 households from 10 selected blocks would be selected and interviewed. Thus the cost of personal interview per unit will be low because of the close proximity of the units in the cluster. This sample may not be the exact representation of the entire city. Thus there is a possibility of sampling error. ..

CLUSTER SAMPLING
It is sometimes expensive to spread your sample across the population as a whole. For example, travel can become expensive if you are using interviewers to travel between people spread all over the country. To reduce costs you may choose a cluster sampling technique. Cluster sampling divides the population into groups, or clusters. A number of clusters are selected randomly to represent the population, and then all units within selected clusters are included in the sample. No units from non-selected clusters are included in the sample. They are represented by those from selected clusters. This differs from stratified sampling, where some units are selected from each group. Examples of clusters may be factories, schools and geographic areas such as electoral subdivisions. The selected clusters are then used to represent the population.

Example

Suppose an organisation wishes to find out which sports Year 11 students are

participating in across Australia. It would be too costly and take too long to survey every student, or even some students from every school. Instead, 100 schools are randomly selected from all over Australia.

These schools are considered to be clusters. Then, every Year 11 student in these 100 schools is surveyed. In effect, students in the sample of 100 schools represent all Year 11 students in Australia.

Cluster sampling has several advantages: reduced costs, simplified field work and administration is more convenient. Instead of having a sample scattered over the entire coverage area, the sample is more localised in relatively few centres (clusters). Cluster samplings disadvantage is that less accurate results are often obtained due to higher sampling error (see section Information - Problems with Using) than for simple random sampling with the same sample size. In the above example, you might expect to get more accurate estimates from randomly selecting students across all schools than from randomly selecting 100 schools and taking every student in those chosen.