Population vs. Sample | Definitions, Differences & Examples
A population is the entire group that you want to draw conclusions about.
A sample is the specific group that you will collect data from. The size of the sample is always less than the total size of the population.
In research, a population doesn’t always refer to people. It can mean a group containing elements of anything you want to study, such as objects, events, organizations, countries, species, organisms, etc.
| Population | Sample |
|---|---|
| Advertisements for IT jobs in the Netherlands | The top 50 search results for advertisements for IT jobs in the Netherlands on May 1, 2020 |
| Songs from the Eurovision Song Contest | Winning songs from the Eurovision Song Contest that were performed in English |
| Undergraduate students in the Netherlands | 300 undergraduate students from three Dutch universities who volunteer for your psychology research study |
| All countries of the world | Countries with published data available on birth rates and GDP since 2000 |
