Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) Practice Test

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What concept of statistical sampling was violated if an internal auditor chose a sample from only the busiest month?

Random sampling.
Representative sampling.
Systematic sampling.
Stratified sampling.

The correct answer is: Representative sampling.

The concept of representative sampling is violated when an internal auditor chooses a sample from only the busiest month because representative sampling aims to ensure that the sample reflects the diversity and characteristics of the entire population. By selecting data exclusively from the busiest month, the auditor risks overlooking variations and patterns that might occur during less busy periods. This approach may lead to skewed results since the audit may not accurately represent the overall performance or issues present in other months. Representative sampling is crucial in providing a more reliable overview of the population being studied, making sure that all variations are considered. For instance, transactions in a quieter month might exhibit different trends or anomalies that could be missed. Ultimately, the goal of sampling in auditing is to make informed inferences about the total population based on a sample that appropriately represents it, which is not achieved when focusing on just one particularly busy time frame.