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Reference.org
Sampling frame
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<p>In <a href="/facts/Statistics/DNPsKGYU">statistics</a>, a sampling frame is the source material or device from which a <a href="/facts/Sampling_(statistics)/kIb01xdL">sample</a> is drawn. It is a list of all those within a <a href="/facts/Statistical_population/KAILs8E3">population</a> who can be sampled, and may include individuals, households or institutions. </p><p>Importance of the sampling frame is stressed by Jessen and Salant and Dillman. </p> <blockquote><p><i>In many practical situations the frame is a matter of choice to the survey planner, and sometimes a critical one. [...] Some very worthwhile investigations are not undertaken at all because of the lack of an apparent frame; others, because of faulty frames, have ended in a disaster or in cloud of doubt</i>.</p>— Raymond James Jessen</blockquote> <p>A slightly more general concept of sampling frame includes <a href="/facts/Area_sampling_frame/gpDg7vBU">area sampling frames</a>, whose elements have a geographic nature. Area sampling frames can be useful for example in agricultural statistics when a suitable and updated agricultural census is not available. In <a href="/facts/Environmental_surveying/QdEJw7pX">environmental surveys</a>, area sampling frames may be the only option. </p>