DISREGARD THIS RANTING
Correct answer: select top 1000 col1 from bigtable, select top 10 percent col1 from bigtable
I too selected a single answer not multiple answers
KevRiley - please accept my sincere apologies for my stupidity
Sorry but I can NOT agree with the supposed correct answer
From SQL Server 2005 BOL (September 2007)
ms-help://MS.SQLCC.v9/MS.SQLSVR.v9.en/udb9/html/8868e8fd-6c42-4171-9eab-a0e38cb1bfd3.htm
When a number of rows is specified, instead of a percentage based on the total number of rows in the table, that number is converted into a percentage of the rows and, therefore, pages that should be returned. The TABLESAMPLE operation is then performed with that computed percentage.
The following example returns approximately 100 rows. The actual number of rows that are returned can vary significantly. If you specify a small number, such as 5, you might not receive results in the sample.
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USE AdventureWorks ;
GO
SELECT FirstName, LastName
FROM Person.Contact
TABLESAMPLE (100 ROWS) ;
Further on the same BOL page
The Person.Contact table contains 19,972 rows. The following example returns approximately 10 percent of the rows. The number of rows returned usually changes every time that the statement is executed.
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USE AdventureWorks ;
GO
SELECT FirstName, LastName
FROM Person.Contact
TABLESAMPLE (10 PERCENT) ;
Emphasis on approximately added by myself.
Logically then a specific number of rows is converted to a percentage and for a percentage the number of rows returned is approximately the number specified.