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Slovin's Formula

Slovin's formula, somtimes also spelled "Sloven's forumula (e.g., Altares et al. 2003, p. 13), is an ad hoc formula lacking mathematical rigor (Ryan 2013) that gives an estimate of the sample size needed to obtain statistically meaningful results when sampling from a population of unknown characteristics. If N is the population size and e is the allowed probability of an error in a small representative sample, then the number of samples n needed is approximately

n=N/(1+Ne^2).

The formula was supposedly published by Slovin in 1960 (with reference reportedly given in Guilford and Frucher 1973) and independently by Yamane (1967).

It is unclear exactly how useful the formula is in practice due not only to the imprecise definition of e, but also because although the size of a sample must depend on population variability in the measured property, Slovin's formula lacks a parameter representing such variability (Ryan 2013.)

See also

Nonparametric Statistics, Sample Size

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References

Altares, P. .S. et al. Elementary Statistics: A Modern Approach. Manilla, Phillippines: Rex Book Store, 2003.Glen, S. "Slovin's Formula: What Is It and When Do I Use It?." https://www.statisticshowto.com/probability-and-statistics/how-to-use-slovins-formula/.Guilford, J. P. and Frucher, B. Fundamental Statistics in Psychology and Education. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1973.Ryan, T. P. Ch. 2 in Sample Size Determination and Power. New York: Wiley, 2013.Yamane, T. Statistics: An Introductory Analysis, 2nd ed. New York: Harper and Row, 1967.

Cite this as:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Slovin's Formula." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/SlovinsFormula.html

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