Vol. 12 No. 23 (2022): La finanza alla prova dell’emergenza sanitaria
Open Essays and Researches

Representative Samples, Random Sampling

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  • Alberto Marradi
Alberto Marradi
Emeritus, University of Florence, University of Buenos Aires
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/cambio-12691

Published 2022-10-22

Keywords

  • sampling,
  • random,
  • representative

How to Cite

Marradi, A. . (2022). Representative Samples, Random Sampling. Cambio. Rivista Sulle Trasformazioni Sociali, 12(23), 213–233. https://doi.org/10.36253/cambio-12691
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Abstract

In the social sciences literature the expressions ‘random sample’ and ‘representative sample’ are often used improperly and sometimes even interchangeably by students who seem to think that sample is representative in so far, and because, it is random. In this essay I shall discuss the proper use of ‘random’, ‘representative’ and related terms, and I shall argue that no logic nexus exists between the two concepts, nor does any causal relationship between the two sets of phenomena. The analysis begins with the term that raises the most annoying problems, and accordingly is less explored in the literature, viz, ‘representativeness’.

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