A database management system and method for administration and replication having a built-in random sampling facility for approximation partition analysis on very large databases. The method utilizes a random sampling algorithm that provides results accurate to within a few percentage points for large homogeneous databases. The accuracy is not affected by the size of the database and is determined primarily by the size of the sample. The system and method for approximate partition analysis reduces the time required for an analysis to a fraction of the time required for an exact analysis. The database management system is configured with the random sampling facility built-in thereby enabling even greater efficiency by reducing communication overhead between an analysis program and the database management system to a fraction of the overhead required when sampling is performed by a separate analysis program. The reduction in time thereby permits frequent and timely analyses for replication and administration of database partitions.