In statistics, taking a small number of cases and assuming that they are representative of the total number. In survey work in market research, it is usually not practical to survey every customer. Instead, a sample is taken. A random sample is one where the sample is chosen in a random way.
For example, in a postal survey, one person in every hundred on the electoral register might be chosen. A stratified random sample is one where a group is selected and then a random sample is taken from that group. For example, a manufacturer of baby-care products might select pregnant mothers as a group, and then conduct a random-sample survey on that group. A quota sample survey is one where the size and composition of the survey matches the total population that is being researched. For example, the BBC might want to interview 20 boys aged 0–10, 20 girls aged 0–10, 20 males aged 10–20, and so on.The selection of a suitable sample for study.

In music, a technique of computer synthesis involving the capture by microphone, conversion to digital code, storage, and subsequent manipulation of an acoustic signal (see also digital sampling).
The sample length is limited by the storage capacity of the sampling device, typically a memory chip. Keyboard transposition of a sampled sound has an effect not unlike varispeeding an analog tape or disc.

1. In statistics, gathering data from a representative subset of a larger group (called a population)—for example, determining a country’s presumed voting pattern by polling a demographic cross section of voters. Other uses of this type of sampling might include checking the accuracy and efficiency of computerized transactions by reviewing every hundredth transaction or predicting traffic volumes by measuring traffic flow in a few strategic streets. There are many statistical procedures for estimating how accurately a given sample reflects the behavior of a group as a whole.
2. The conversion of analog signals to a digital format; samples are taken at periodic intervals to measure and record some parameter, such as a signal from a temperature sensor or a microphone. Analog-to-digital converters are used in computers to sample analog signals as voltages and convert them to the binary form a computer can process. The two primary characteristics of this type of sampling are the sampling rate (usually expressed in samples per second) and the sampling precision (expressed in bits; 8-bit samples, for instance, can measure an input voltage accurate to 1/256 of the measured range).
Measurement of an analog signal at regular intervals. The result of the measurement can be converted into a digital signal.