# Acceptance Sampling

Operations · `Acceptance Sampling` · verification: source checked

Acceptance sampling is a statistical quality control method in which a random sample is taken from a lot and the sample information is used to accept or reject the lot. It sits between no inspection and 100% inspection and is commonly applied to attribute (go/no-go) inspection. Its purpose is to decide whether the lot is likely acceptable, not to estimate the quality of the lot.

## Specification

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Kind | methodology |
| Origin | Dodge and Romig; U.S. military during World War II |

## Study notes

- Acceptance sampling was popularized by Dodge and Romig and originally applied by the U.S. military to bullet testing during World War II.
- A sample is picked at random from the lot, and the decision is generally to accept or reject the lot.
- The two major classifications of acceptance plans are by attributes (go/no-go) and by variables; the attribute case is assumed in the document.
- Acceptance sampling is employed when testing is destructive, the cost of 100% inspection is very high, or 100% inspection takes too long.
- Acceptance Quality Control is not the same as Acceptance Sampling; Acceptance Quality Control may be implemented as an Acceptance Control Chart.
- ISO 7966 (1993) describes an acceptance control chart as combining control implications with elements of acceptance sampling for process acceptance decisions.
- Harold Dodge stated in 1942 that acceptance quality control protects the consumer from unacceptable defective product and encourages producer process quality control.

## Sources

1. [6.2.1. What is Acceptance Sampling?](https://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/pmc/section2/pmc21.htm) (accessed 2026-10-25)

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