Step 1 – Analyzing the Population

The first step in any performance audit sampling process should be a comprehensive review of the available administrative data (i.e., data collected by government institutions or agencies for public administration purposes) relevant to the audit topic. This applies to both generalizable and purposeful sampling.

Reviewing the available data will allow auditors to identify populations to assess whether these populations are sufficiently homogeneous, and to determine whether the data is of sufficient quality to make sampling possible. Completing this review will help auditors to take decisions about sampling objectives and appropriate sampling methodology. The review in itself may also provide useful evidence that might serve to support audit observations or as contextual information in the audit report.

There is no standard process for conducting a review of administrative data, but some basic techniques and approaches are commonly used by auditors (more on this). Professional data analysts can also help through a wide range of standard exploratory techniques for initial review of population data.

Performance auditors can use two types of approaches to analyze populations: exploratory analysis and data analytics.

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