Data-Sampling

Data-Sampling

What is data? What is sampling? Explain the importance of sampling from a managerial perspective. Provide examples.

Data can be defined as values of qualitative or quantitative facts that are critical to produce a product or to feed analysts as a basis for decision. Data can be had in multiple forms from electronic, mathematical or physical and can be ultimately used formally, informally or collected for long term accountability, non-repudiation and audit.

Sampling on the other hand is a more concise method of data collection to ultimately achieve a great consensus or idea of what’s being evaluated. Sampling can be used to baseline procedures or production IT systems supporting the company’s enterprise, end-user or customer base.

Sampling from a managerial perspective can be very insightful to decision making efforts of investments, creation of new products and or the decision of purchasing a product needed by he company. One example of sampling is used during risk assessment of a program. A test team evaluates a system’s baseline of like-and-kind Windows or Linux systems supporting the company’s IT infrastructure. Once a baseline is achieved for the aforementioned operating systems the team can conduct a sample testing of the infrastructure. Meaning, they do not have to test the entire server farm but conduct a sampling of Windows and Linux operating systems as needed to suffice their data collection requirement.