Probability sampling design in ethnobotanical surveys of medicinal plants

Abstract

Non-probability sampling design can be used in ethnobotanical surveys of medicinal plants. However, this method does not allow statistical inferences to be made from the data generated. The aim of this paper is to present a probability sampling design that is applicable in ethnobotanical studies of medicinal plants. The sampling design employed in the research titled Ethnobotanical knowledge of medicinal plants used by traditional communities of Nossa Senhora Aparecida do Chumbo district (NSACD), Pocone, Mato Grosso, Brazil was used as a case study. Probability sampling methods (simple random and stratified sampling) were used in this study. In order to determine the sample size, the following data were considered: population size (N) of 1179 families; confidence coefficient, 95%; sample error (d), 0.05; and a proportion (p), 0.5. The application of this sampling method resulted in a sample size (n) of at least 290 families in the district. The present study concludes that probability sampling methods necessarily have to be employed in ethnobotanical studies of medicinal plants, particularly where statistical inferences have to be made using data obtained. This can be achieved by applying different existing probability sampling methods, or better still, a combination of such methods.