This practice presents rules for accepting or rejecting evidence based on a sample. Statistical evidence for this practice is in the form of an estimate of a proportion, an average, a total, or other numerical characteristic of a finite population or lot. This practice is an estimate of the result which would have been obtained by investigating the entire lot or population under the same rules and with the same care as was used for the sample. One purpose of this practice is to describe straightforward sample selection and data calculation procedures so that courts, commissions, etc. will be able to verify whether such procedures have been applied.This practice includes the concepts and procedures of sampling. Examples include sampling mineral ore or grain from a conveyor belt or sampling from a list of households along a street. If the systematic sample is obtained by a single random start, the plan is then a probability sampling plan, but it does not permit calculating the standard error as required by this practice.