STA 224-SAMPLING METHODS

The design of a sample is one of the most important aspects of any survey: no amount of statistical analysis can compensate for a badly-designed sample.  Therefore, the emphasis of this course is the scientific design of samples, determination of sample sizes and is related to methods for analysing the data from a survey. Contents include: Questionnaire design,sampling techniques (simple random, stratified, systematic, cluster, complex), proportional vs disproportional allocation for stratified sampling, ratio and regression estimation, estimation of means, totals proportions and their variances, weighting of survey data, dealing with non-response. Sampling techniques covered will include simple random sampling, stratification, cluster sampling, systematic sampling, multistage sampling, probability proportional to size sampling, as well as noting several non-probability methods possibly used in very small or hard-to-find populations. Applications of these methods for a variety of survey designs will be discussed, and cost, sampling frames, and sampling error estimation techniques will also be addressed.