A random sample of 5 people is to be drawn from 10 people whose surnames are A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J.

Question

Extract From Table of Random Numbers ( 079 831 130 709 938 423 756 281 787 118)

My Method: Choose the 1st, 6th, 11th etc. number from the Extract (in leaps of 5), if number is repeated skip and go forward by another digits. End Process when 5 names are chosen. (0-9) corresponds to (A-J)

Numbers chosen 1st Person: 1st Digit: 0 2nd Person: 6th Digit: 1 3rd Person: 16th Digit: 4 4th Person: 21st Digit: 6 5th Person: 26th Digit: 8

I.e. -> A, B, E, G, I

Would this method qualify for obtaining a random sample of 5 people in relation to the questeion. Are there more beneficial methods?

Answer 1

Another method would be something like this.

Create a rand() from the Uniform Distribution (0,1) and if it falls in any range, you pick that surname. Do it five times you get a group of 5. This is very similar to Thor's Selection Algorithm. You don't need an extract of random numbers to select.