The concept of a representative sample can be found in nearly every survey description. In general, this means that the sample is a miniature of the population. A scientific definition of the term should include all important aspects of a sample survey. In this paper such a definition is...

Statistical disclosure control (SDC) is a balancing act between mandatory data protection and the comprehensible demand from researchers for access to original data. In this paper, a family of methods is defined to ‘mask’ sensitive variables before data files can be released. In the first...

If nonresponse and/or untruthful answering mechanisms occur, analyzing only the available cases may substantially weaken the validity of sample results. The paper starts with a reference to strategies of empirical social researchers related to respondent cooperation in surveys embedding the...

The authors adapt the estimation method proposed by A. R. Gallant and D. N. Nychka (1987) to binary-choice models. They present Monte Carlo and asymptotic comparisons with the probit estimator and discuss optimization algorithms, choice of starting values, and strategies f or choosing the number...

Very often values of a size variable are known for the elements of a population we want to sample. For example, the elements may be clusters, the size variable denoting the number of units in a cluster. Then, it is quite usual to base the selection of elements on inclusion probabilities which...