Create a Sample

Selected View in Navigation Tree > right-click > Create Sample...

For views of Project Data, such as a Folder, Custodian, MediaID, Batch, Tag, or a Search Results set, you can create a Sample of the view to help characterize the data in the view or to validate results. A Sample provides a subset of the documents in the view based on a percentage of the view's document count and additional, optional criteria. Based on the percentage and criteria you select for the Sample Set, the software then randomly selects the documents for the Sample. If you do not select a percentage, the software uses approximately 10 percent of the current view size.

Note: You cannot use a Sample as a Workflow query.

After you create a Sample, you can view it under the appropriate Search History section of the Navigation tree. A Sample is identified by the icon. A Sample appears as a set of search results.

Note: You cannot edit or delete a Sample.

The Sample's task in the Work Basket provides information about the Sample, its criteria, and the view from which the Sample was created. For example, for Samples created for a Folder and from a Search Result, respectively:

Sample sample1 10% in Folder1

Sample ss1-100 100% in (legal) in Project Data

The entry for the Sample under the Search History item in the Navigation tree also reports the number of documents in the Sample in parentheses. For example:

Sample sample1 10% in Folder1 (793)

Sample ss1-100 100% in (legal) in Project Data (840)

Sample Name

• Name (required) — Assign a unique name (up to 32 characters) to the Sample Set. The name is subject to validation upon creation. The name can include alphanumeric characters, spaces between characters in the name (leading and trailing spaces are ignored), and some supported characters (such as a hyphen, underscore, and apostrophe). During validation, the software will also allow characters from foreign languages (for example, Korean characters). However, the following characters are not supported for Sample Set names and will generate an error message indicating that your entry contains invalid characters:

! " # $ % & * + . / : ; < = > ? @ [ \ ] ^ { | } ~ “ ”

Note: These character restrictions apply to most tree items, such as Imports, Exports,Tags, Folders, Saved Searches, Workflows, Comparisons, Samples, and Synthetic Documents. To support auto-discovery of Custodians based on staging, a Custodian name has fewer restrictions regarding invalid characters.

Sample Method Selection

You can select one of the following methods for the Sample Set:

• By Sample Size (default) — Enables you to create a Sample based on what you specify for one of the following parameters (where what you specify for one parameter determines the other parameter value):
  • Percentage — Uses a percentage to calculate the number of documents in the Sample. The default is approximately 10 percent of the current view size. Use the slider to increase the percentage, or enter a value up to 100 in the box. Note that if you make family members that reside in the source view eligible for inclusion, the included family members contribute to the overall size. If you do not select a percentage, the software uses approximately 10 percent of the current view size.
  • Document Count — Uses a document count that your specify as the size of the Sample. Enter a value in the box. You can see how many documents are available in the entire view by examining the /<value>.
• By Confidence — Uses the following two Confidence-related parameters to create a statistically significant Sample of documents (a random Sample). The number of documents calculated for the Sample based on the parameter values appears in the read-only field Sample Size:
  • Confidence Level — Use the default Confidence level of 95 percent (%), or use the slider to select a value in the range 90-99%.
  • Margin of Error — Use the default of 5 as the margin of error value (also known as the Confidence Interval, or CI), or use the slider to select a value in the range 1-5.

Additional Options

• Include Families — Select this checkbox option to ensure that family members from the source view are included in the Sample. Family members could be part of a Message Attachment Group (MAG) or Document Attachment Group (DAG). The family members must reside in the source view to be eligible for inclusion; this operation will not add family members from outside the source view. When you include family members from the source view in the Sample, expect the Sample document count to be higher than the estimated Sample size shown in the dialog. By default, this checkbox option is not selected.
• Sample All Custodians — Select this checkbox option to ensure that the Sample includes documents from all populated Custodians. By default, this checkbox option is not selected.

When you are done, click OK. This button will be available if you have supplied all required information. You can also click Cancel to cancel the Sample creation.

Note: When a Sample is created, it appears under its parent Search Results set or parent Folder, in a Sample Data directory. The Sample Data directory is identified using the icon.

Summary

• You can create a Sample for the entire Project Data, or views such as Search Results view or any Project Data-based view such as a Tag or Folder view.
• Samples reside under the Search History and look like other search results except for their naming convention.
• You specify the name of the Sample, then either generate the Sample using a Sample size with a percentage (default 10%) or using a Confidence Level percentage and Margin of Error.
• You can specify family inclusion for the Sample. This option is disabled by default. When you enable this option, it is likely that the number of documents based on your percentage will be exceeded to include the family members that reside in the view.
• You can sample documents across all Custodians of the sampled view. This option is not enabled by default.
• You can create as many Samples as you want for a given view.