Statistics Interview Question: What is a representative sample?

In a recent blog post I discussed the difference between a population and a sample, and that blog post can be read here:- https://medium.com/@tracyrenee61/statistics-interview-question-what-is-the-difference-between-a-population-and-a-sample-2e42a4412c05

In this blog post I intend to expand upon what was covered with regard to samples, and discuss representative samples.

A representative sample is a subset of a population that seeks to accurately reflect the characteristics of the larger group. For example, a population of 30 people, composed of 15 males and 15 females, could generate a representative sample of 6 individuals, composed of 3 males and 3 females.

A representative sample seeks to choose components that match with key characteristics in the entire population being examined. Representative samples yield the best results, but they can also be very difficult to obtain.

Representative sampling used the stratified sampling method to help identify its components. I have discussed other sampling techniques of random, systematic, and clustering in a recent blog post, which can be read here:- https://medium.com/@tracyrenee61/interview-question-what-are-the-four-types-of-probability-sampling-d0050ce56ea1