ACCA Applied Knowledge · Management Accounting · Sampling methods
A company holds 2,000 numbered purchase invoices and wants to select a sample of 50 so that every invoice has an equal chance of selection, using a random number table. Which sampling method is this?
This is simple random sampling, because each numbered invoice in the sampling frame has an equal chance of being chosen through random numbers. Systematic sampling would use a fixed interval, cluster sampling would select groups, and quota sampling is non-random.
- ASimple random samplingCorrect
- BQuota sampling
- CCluster sampling
- DSystematic sampling
Explanation
Simple random sampling gives every item in the sampling frame an equal and independent chance of selection, here achieved through random numbers matched to invoice numbers. Systematic sampling instead picks every nth item after a random start, and quota sampling is non-random.
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