About stratified samples

Create a stratified sample if you need to assign test kits to a subset of your population and you want Oracle COVID-19 Patient Monitoring System to manage the assignment of the test kits.

Before you create a stratified sample, consider the following questions:

1. What factors determine whether a participant is included in a stratified sample?

   For example, you might want to include all healthcare workers in a single stratified sample.

   If you want to create a stratified sample that is representative of your overall population, you have several options:

   • Stratify participants by the criteria of your choice, such as geography, ethnicity, or age.
   • Add participants using a simple random sampling, such as by using the every-nth-person approach.
2. How many test kits are assigned to each sub-group?

   If only some participants receive a test kit, you need to know only the number of test kits that are available to assign.

   However, in some cases, you might need to assign test kits to all participants in a stratified sample. For example, you might assign test kits to all healthcare workers in a stratified sample. In such cases, make sure you know how many healthcare workers are in the system so you can assign a kit to all of them.

3. How will you assign test kits within the pool?

   For a stratified sample that contains only healthcare workers, you can use the first-come, first-served approach if you want to assign a test kit to everyone.

   Alternately, if you're assigning test kits to only some participants in a stratified sample, you can assign test kits using the every-nth-person approach.

4. What are the next steps for participants who don't receive test kits?

   For instance, you can choose one of the following options:

   • Keep the participants in the stratified sample.

     The participants remain eligible to receive future test kit disbursements.

   • Return the participants to the population.

     The participants are eligible for inclusion in another stratified sample.

To learn more about stratified samples, reach out to your Customer Success manager.