Lesson 4 of 8 · 12 min
Sample size and mixing populations
More data reduces sampling error, but with diminishing returns, and only if every observation comes from the same population.
In short
- Larger random samples give smaller sampling error, but each extra observation helps less than the one before.
- A minimum sample size is needed for a given accuracy; beyond some size, extra data adds little.
- Stratified sampling tends to beat simple random sampling at small sample sizes; the advantage narrows as the sample grows.
- All observations must come from the same population (one distribution). Pooling data from different regimes or strategies gives a sample that represents no population.
- A smaller, homogeneous sample can be better than a larger, mixed one.
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