At CSX Transportation, employees in the Procurement and Supply Chain Management (P&SCM) department perform many different tasks, including inventory management, parts identification, equipment operation, purchasing, and so on. In attempting to perform a study on the skills desired by the management of this department, a probability sampling of both hiring managers and operations managers would be helpful. According to Cooper and Schindler (2014), probability sampling provides “confidence estimates of various parameters that cannot be made with nonprobability samples” (p. 348). The appropriate sampling method to use to determine the desired skills needed in supply chain management at CSX will depend on factors such as costs and population size. Below is a discussion of the various sampling designs provided by Cooper and Schindler (2014). Simple Random Simple random sampling offers equal chances of selection for each member of the population. The probability of selection is determined by dividing the sample size by the population size (Cooper & Schindler, 2014). In the case of CSX's P&SCM department, simple random sampling would give every hiring and operations manager the same opportunity to provide input regarding preferred skills for new hires, thus allowing for accurate representation of desired skills at all levels.