In institution research, surveys of students or faculty can be a helpful tool to gather data. Surveying a sample of students or faculty and computing weights to be able to make inferences to your student or faculty population are important. In this chapter, we introduce the connected topics of sampling and weighting. We begin with a discussion on the purpose of sampling, the benefits of sampling, and a description of different types of sample designs, ranging from simple designs to very complex designs. We use NPSAS as an example. The second half of the chapter is a discussion on weighting and computing and using weights. It begins with the definition of weights and the reasons to use them and illustrates the concepts presented with an example. A brief discussion of variances is included.
