Table of Contents
Definition of Random Sample
(noun) A sample that ensures that every member of a population has an equal chance of inclusion.
Example of Random Sample
- Every individual in a class of 50 writes their names on a piece of paper, they are put in a bag, and 10 are drawn out.
Random Sample Pronunciation
Syllabification: ran·dom sam·ple
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /rAn-duhm sAm-puhl/
- British English – /rAn-duhm sAHm-puhl/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈrændəm ˈsæmpəl/
- British English – /ˈrændəm ˈsɑːmpl/
Usage Notes
- Plural: random samples
- Also called random and independent sample.
- A random sample (adverb) randomly provides (noun) randomness.
Related Video
Additional Information
- Quantitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “random” and “sample” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
- attribute
- control group
- correlation
- data
- descriptive statistics
- inferential statistics
- negative correlation
- positive correlation
- spurious correlation
- statistics
- survey
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Cite the Definition of Random Sample
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2015. “random sample.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved February 9, 2025 (https://sociologydictionary.org/random-sample/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
random sample. (2015). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/random-sample/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2015. “random sample.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed February 9, 2025. https://sociologydictionary.org/random-sample/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“random sample.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2015. Web. 9 Feb. 2025. <https://sociologydictionary.org/random-sample/>.