Sampling: Basic Methods for Probability and
Non-Probability Samples

Description: Careful use of sampling methods can save resources and often increase the validity of evaluation findings. This seminar will focus on the following: (a) The Basics: defining sample, sampling and validity, probability and non-probability samples, and when not to sample; (b) Error and Sampling: study logic and sources of error, target population and sampling frame; (c) Probability Sampling Methods: simple random sampling, systematic sampling, stratified sampling, cluster sampling, and multi-stage sampling; (d) Making Choices before, during, and after sampling; and (e) Sampling Issues. Many examples will be used to illustrate these topics and participants will have the opportunity to work with case exercises. The instructor's text Practical Sampling (Sage, 1990) will be provided as part of the course fee in addition to take-home class work materials. 

Prerequisites: No previous knowledge of sampling is required but participants who bring cases of their own to apply the concepts will likely benefit the most.

Instructor: Dr. Gary T. Henry is the William Neil Reynolds Distinguished Professor in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Most recently, he was professor in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University where he taught research and statistical analysis courses, and before that, served as the Director of the Applied Research Center at GSU. Henry has evaluated a variety of policies and programs, including Georgia 's Universal Pre-K, public information campaigns, and the HOPE Scholarship, as well as school reforms and accountability systems. He served as Director of Evaluation and Learning Services for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation; and from 1993-2000 was the Director of the Georgia Council for School Performance. He is author of Practical Sampling (Sage 1990), Graphing Data (Sage 1995) and co-author of Evaluation: An Integrated Framework for Understanding, Guiding, and Improving Policies and Programs (Jossey-Bass 2000) ; and has published extensively in the field of evaluation and policy analysis. In addition, he served as deputy secretary of education for the Commonwealth of Virginia and chief methodologist with the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, Virginia General Assembly. He received the Evaluation of the Year Award from the American Evaluation Association in 1998 for his work with the Georgia 's Council for School Performance and the Joseph S. Wholey Distinguished Scholarship Award in 2001 from the American Society for Public Administration and the Center for Accountability and Performance.

Date: July 21, 2008, Washington, DC

Certificates: CEP IB.d or CAEP IIB.d and CQEM III.f

Fee: $425