Sample Based Methods

Abstract

The methods discussed in this chapter are based in concepts discussed in chapters 2 and 4. They also are interconnected and connected to methods discussed earlier. Specifically, we noted in Chapter 8 that the ratio-correlation method can both be informed by sample data (Ericksen, 1973, 1974) and viewed as a form of synthetic estimation (Swanson and Prevost, 1985), a subject we take up in this chapter. Moreover, it is possible to use methods discussed in chapters 7, 8, 9 and 10 with sample data. Conversely, it is the case that some of the methods discussed here, particularly synthetic estimation, do not require sample data for their use. In this regard, the placement of synthetic estimation in this chapter reflects its origins in sample methods and the needs of survey statisticians to leverage the resources they had available (Steinberg, 1979; US NCHS, 1968). As will be seen in this chapter, demographers use a form of synthetic estimation that is not dependent on sample information.