Rand Function in Excel To Choose a Random Sample

Do you ever have to report on an M&E outcome indicator and give a percentage, for example, 70% of the population was impacted?  How do you figure out what that percentage is?  A lot of the time you’ll base that number on the results of a survey.  But for your survey results to be valid, you need to choose your sample randomly.  Then RAND function in Excel can help you do this!

This post is all about how to choose a random sample when you’re doing a survey (like a baseline or endline).  It includes:

1.  How to use a “Sample Size Calculator”

2.  How to use the RAND function in Excel to help you choose your list of people to interview

3.  And how the “Bernoulli Distribution” can help

If you don’t do random sampling, your results are literally percentages that apply only to the people you interviewed. The results are not generalizable to the rest of the population you’re interested in.

I’ve made a video explaining how to choose a random sample using Excel.  But first, please download the Excel template I use in the video so you can follow along and use the template when choosing the sample for your next survey.