A sample is a small amount of a larger thing. For instance- in department stores they sale perfume. To let customers try the perfume before they buy a whole bottle a sample can be requested. It typically comes in a very small bottle with one or two uses of the perfume.
There are many other examples of what makes a an sample here are a few:
Quite often scientists will refer to a "sample". This is instead of working out an average or a percent of an entire set of data, rather they will look at perhaps a sample of 100 out of the thousand. The assumption made is that this sample is representative of the whole. For example, on launching a new face cream, a manufacturer might say "70% of women preferred this to their old face cream". However, when you look at the small print it often says "out of 129 Women surveyed"...then that 70% of women doesn't seem quite so many, but is thought to be representative of the equivalent of asking every woman in Britain to try some. I suppose, just like a carpet sample, they are making the job easier by checking a small amount works!
It is possible in some instances to employ "bias sampling" where what is supposed to be a totally random mixture of people is picked in a particularly way to lead the results a certain way.
A sample can also mean something for testing, such as a urine sample or a blood sample. Some medical people might just call it a sample instead of a blood test.
There are many other examples of what makes a an sample here are a few:
Quite often scientists will refer to a "sample". This is instead of working out an average or a percent of an entire set of data, rather they will look at perhaps a sample of 100 out of the thousand. The assumption made is that this sample is representative of the whole. For example, on launching a new face cream, a manufacturer might say "70% of women preferred this to their old face cream". However, when you look at the small print it often says "out of 129 Women surveyed"...then that 70% of women doesn't seem quite so many, but is thought to be representative of the equivalent of asking every woman in Britain to try some. I suppose, just like a carpet sample, they are making the job easier by checking a small amount works!
It is possible in some instances to employ "bias sampling" where what is supposed to be a totally random mixture of people is picked in a particularly way to lead the results a certain way.
A sample can also mean something for testing, such as a urine sample or a blood sample. Some medical people might just call it a sample instead of a blood test.
