Sample

Any subset of a population; a set of units selected from a population. In statistics, a sample refers to a representative group of objects, cases or items, selected from a larger population. The degree to which a sample is truly representative is controlled by the size of the sample and biasing factors affecting its selection. The larger the sample and the smaller the bias, the more representative the sample. All groups of archaeological material are samples, selected through preservation and choice of site, of an original population. The term sample is also used to describe the small sections cut from artifacts in order to do dating and analysis.

(1) In statistics, a sample refers to a representative group of objects, cases or items, selected from a larger population. If the selection has been random, the distributions within a sample should have similar proportions to those of the original sample. The degree to which a sample is truly representative in this way is controlled by two factors: the size of the sample and biasing factors affecting its selection. The larger the sample and the smaller the bias, the more representative the sample. All groups of archaeological material are samples, selected through preservation and choice of site, of an original population of objects, bones layers etc. The problem is always to determine the biases which have operated during selection. (2) The term sample is also used to describe the small sections cut from artefacts or collected from soils and sediments in order to carry out a range of analyses.