In order to be able to learn about a population. The researcher selects individuals or schools that are representative of the entire group of individuals or organizations. Representative refers to the selection of individuals from a sample of the population, such that the individuals selected are typical of the population under study. A representative sample means that the individuals selected for the sample from the wider population are typical of the wider population. For example, if the population of elementary school principals is 75 percent female, 70 percent middle class, and 30 percent from rural settings, a representative sample of the population of elementary school principals would be made up of about 75 percent females, about 70 percent of the individuals would would be middle class, and about 30 percent of the sample would be assigned to rural schools. When the individuals included in the sample are representative, the researcher is able to draw conclusions from the sample about the population as a whole. Therefore, we need to consider the different strategies that researchers use to select their samples.