Statistical sampling is one of the tools and techniques used in Control Quality. It is defined as selecting part of a population in question or interest for inspection. The samples are chosen and tested according to the quality management plan.
When doing this particular project management technique, the sample size and frequency should be determined by the project manager during the Plan Quality. This project management tool usually involves the collection of information from the sample domain and analyzing them.
This type of technique has a substantial body of knowledge and the project management team needs to be familiar with the different types of sampling techniques to make sure that the sample chosen gives the best representation of the total population.
For instance, projects usually involve many choices in the design phase and choosing the right data sample is critical for producing the right results. This is the reason why the simple random sampling method is widely used by project managers. Other statistical sampling methods include systemic sampling, stratified sampling, cluster sampling, judgmental and haphazard sampling.
This term is defined in the 5th edition of the PMBOK.