What is Acceptance Sampling?

April 30, 2024

The VVPAT-based audit of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) is a typical case of “lot acceptance sampling”, a statistical quality control technique widely used in industry and trade.

About Acceptance Sampling:

  • It is a statistical measure used in quality control.It allows a company to determine the quality of a batch of products by selecting a specified number for testing.
  • It tests a representative sampleof the product for defects. The quality of this designated sample will be viewed as the quality level for the entire group of products.
  • The process involves first, determining the size of a product lot to be tested, then the number of products to be sampled and finally the number of defects acceptable within the sample batch.
  • Products are chosen at random for sampling. It does not assure the quality of the complete set of products from which the sample is derived.
  • Origin:
    • Acceptance sampling in its modern industrial form dates from the early 1940s.
    • It was popularized by Dodge and Romig and originally applied by the U.S. military to the testing of bullets during World War II. 
  • Need for Acceptance Sampling:
    • A company cannot test every one of its products at all times.
    • There may be too many to inspect at a reasonable cost or within a reasonable timeframe.
    • Also, comprehensive testing might damage the product or make it unfit for sale in some way. 
    • Testing a small sample would be indicative without ruining the bulk of the product run.

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