All the polling firms selected their samples using a technique known as quota sampling.

ECONOMIST: Why the polls got it wrong last time

For CNN iReport's cultural census project, we collected more than 200 handwriting samples and selected a handful to be analyzed by an expert.

CNN: Spot-on handwriting analysis surprises iReporters

Two or three of them would be selected to analyse the samples, together with a set of controls, which would be prepared by the OPCW Central Laboratory, to ensure the quality and dependability of the results.

BBC: How to investigate chemical weapons allegations

The plaintiffs had asked to take samples from only five (5) randomly selected hard drives in order to determine whether the issue of scope was even worth contention based on what keywords they might have determined to be germane.

FORBES: Federal Court Orders KPMG To Preserve 2,500 Hard Drives

The samples contain all the claims for each of the patients selected and track them through the years.

WSJ: How The Wall Street Journal Crunched the Medicare Numbers

When a couple of Miser's tunes were selected for the short-lived TV series The Handler on CBS, he had to rerecord them, minus the samples.

FORBES: Name That Note