f. - UZSpace Home - University of Zululand

6.7 Population
Fraenkel and Wallen (ZOOO: 104) assert that before one selects a sample,
one has to define the population of interest. This interest, they argue, could
be in the form of what group the researcher is interested in or to whom the
results apply. A population is any finite or infinite collection of individual
objects with which a researcher would like to generalize the results of a
study. It therefore consists of a number of units of enquiry. Bless and Smith
(ZOOO) further illustrate that a sampling theory is a technical accounting
device used to rationalize the collection of information, and to choose in an
appropriate way a restricted set of objects, persons, and events from which
actual information will be drawn. Nachmias and Nachmias (1996) define
population simply as consisting of all households in a given community or all
registered voters, for instance, in a particular district. A population may be
composed of all the residents in a specific neighborhood, houses etc. This
study focused on all women aged between 16-60 studying, working and
living in the provinces of Rift Valley (Kenya) and Kwa-Zulu Natal (South
Africa). Careful attention was, however, given to women who reside in the
rural areas of both these provinces, and to their ethnic affiliations. The word
"rural" is intended to mean places with rural characteristics, such as: low
levels of service (e.g. transport, water and medical services), non-urban
settlements (such as riparian Villages) and high incidences of poverty (Ikoja­
Odongo ZOOZb: 19Z).
In order to increase confidence in the sample represented, a census list
detailing the population figures of women in each category was acquired
from the respective government offices in both countries.
6.8 Sampling
According to Baker (1999), sampling refers to specific ways of selecting
subjects, or simply to "who will be studied". The author states that major
157