Understanding sample size:
How to ensure your survey delivers better results

If your sample size is too large, the complexity of your research increases considerably which in turn makes it more expensive. It is hard to justify the additional expense. 

On the other hand, if your sample size is too small, then your research can be influenced by outliers and anomalies and you don’t get an accurate view of your target audience. Which is why you need to keep a few factors in mind while determining sample size. 

If you already have the key details on hand, then you can use our sample size calculator to figure what sample size you should be targeting.

If you’re starting from scratch, the following tips should come in handy:

Consider the right variables

Factor in population size 

This is an estimate of the total number of people you are trying to understand. For example, if you were to take a random sample of people across a country, then that country’s total population is your population size.

Confidence level in sampling

This is a percentage which represents how confident you are that the population would select an answer within a predefined range. A 97% confidence level implies that you are 97% sure that results will be between x and y numbers (these are parameters decided by you).