Stratified sample

Stratified sampling is commonly used probability method that is superior to random sampling because it reduces sampling error. A stratum is a subset of the population that share at least one common    characteristic. Examples of stratums might be males and females, or managers and non-managers. The researcher first identifies the      relevant stratums and their actual representation in the population. Random sampling is then used to select a sufficient number of subjects from each stratum. "Sufficient" refers to a sample size large enough for us to be reasonably confident that the stratum represents the  population. Stratified sampling is often used when one or more of the stratums in the population have a low incidence relative to the other stratums.