# Sampling — definition

> Sampling is the selection of a subset of accounts, calls, letters, or files for transaction testing, sized and structured to support a conclusion about the compliance of the whole population.

- Source: https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/sampling/
- Publisher: Otto — https://ottoforfirms.com
- Updated: 2026-07-26
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**Sampling** — Sampling is the selection of a subset of accounts, calls, letters, or files for transaction testing, sized and structured to support a conclusion about the compliance of the whole population.

The FDIC's Consumer Compliance Examination Manual, section II-1, states the governing principle: "the number of transactions selected and the type of sampling used should be relative to the perceived risk of consumer harm and the need to assess the level of compliance in an activity or function." It also contemplates that examiners may reduce sample sizes where management performs timely, comprehensive testing of its own — the direct rationale for a firm maintaining an internal QA sample that a bank reviewer can rely on. Statistical sampling permits quantified confidence but is generally outside the manual's scope; judgmental and risk-weighted selection is the norm, which makes the documented basis for how a sample was drawn as important as the results.

## Primary sources

1. [FDIC Consumer Compliance Examination Manual § II-1](https://www.fdic.gov/consumer-compliance-examination-manual/ii-1-overview-compliance-examinations)

## See also

- [Examination](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/examination/)
- [TPRM](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/tprm/)
- [Attestation](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/attestation/)
- [Disposition code](https://ottoforfirms.com/glossary/disposition-code/)

## Where this appears

- [How banks audit their collection law firms](https://ottoforfirms.com/bank-audits/)
- [Migrating a collections firm to a new case management system](https://ottoforfirms.com/migrating/)

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