Re: Sample size - How big should it be?

David Winsemius wrote:
Rob <user@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in news:TEEmj.7232$421.4228@news-
server.bigpond.net.au:

How do you decide how big your sample should be?

Ok I have k = N/n

What next?


You need to let us know what you plan to do with those three numbers.


Thank you for replying.

OK lets say I was doing an employee survey total population 1000 (N)

Using a random number generator I pick a sample of (n)? employees to survey.

How do I work out what size my sample I would need to get a representative sample? What is considered to be significant?

While I have you - if I don't use random sample ie. I invite everybody in the company to take part in an anonymous online survey and only take the people that reply. How do I determine if my results are meaningful?

I mean if 1% reply I would say the result do not mean much. If 100% reply then I could be confident of the response. How do I determine what size sample is big enough.





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