A sample is described as “a
representative part or a single item from a larger whole or group…” (www.merriam-webster.com).
This includes things such as a cloth sample or those little carpet cubes you
get when trying to decide on floor covering. Another classic is the bombardment
of colour when you go to the paint shop where you come out pondering your level
of colour blindness.
These two definitions carry two key words for the geologically
minded…mind you some might argue that that is limited to the time scale in your
thoughts. The first word is
representative. This then has a bearing on the plan to obtain the sample, care,
and intentionality in the process of obtaining the sample, as well as the
checking processes to ensure that the sample is indeed “representative”. In
mining geology sampling in the field is seldom random….though a lot of geologists
have been known to bag a rock or two that they’ve tripped over. Careful
planning and strategizing, with the application of regional and local geology
knowledge is the order of the day and the importance of this can never be
over-stated.
The second word is statistical,
which goes with population. This implies that there is a large enough group for
the sample to be representing; so this talks to the dimensions of the sample
with respect to this group, as well as the size of the group itself. Let it sink
in.
Without the technically correct
sample-speak, what pops in mind when you say sample, is a handful of dirt in a
clear thick-plastic bag which is throttled and tagged with a fancy number that
also appear on a small tag that barely sticks out of the dirt. And what I
keenly recall with these is the hopes and anticipation attached to this sample,
that it will be the point of reference for my future success in field geology.
Oh what hopes…
