Sampling in eHRAF

It is rarely necessary to use the entire eHRAF Archaeology database for comparative studies. As long as a sample is representative of some well-defined universe of cultures, societies, or archaeological traditions, sampling a sub-set saves time and effort.

For eHRAF Archaeology, HRAF has employed two types of sampling:

1: Simple Random Sample (SRS)

currently 46 traditions randomly selected from the Outline of Archaeological Traditions

The second type of sampling method is to include entire tradition sequences, usually three or more archaeological traditions.

Tradition Level Samples and Document Level Samples

When performing a search or viewing the Browse Documents page, tradition level samples are available in filters.

Tradition Level Samples

includes every document related to every tradition in the chosen sample

How to find and narrow by sample type(s) in eHRAF

You can filter by sample type in eHRAF while on the Browse Document or Browse Tradition pages or while performing a search. On any of those pages, click the Show Filters button to open the filters sidebar on the left and then select the sample filters you wish to apply.

The Basic Guide to Cross-Cultural Research on the HRAF homepage contains further discussion about sampling including suggested reading.