Setting up the frame

Abstract

One of the aspects that have the greatest impact on the quality of the results of a survey is the type of frame used to select the units from the population. Nevertheless this aspect is very often underestimated in survey methods. The sampling frame is any material or device used to obtain observational access to the finite population of interest (Särndal et al. 1992). The sampling frame has significant implications on the cost and the quality of any agricultural or non-agricultural survey. This chapter is devoted to the description of the main strengths and weaknesses of the different statistical frames.