Some of the recent developments in sample survey methodology that are relevant to marketing research are reviewed. These innovations, all involving probability sampling, concern (1) methods of minimizing the total survey error, (2) methods of estimating the sampling errors in complex surveys, (3) more efficient methods of sampling from complex frames, (4) the selection of telephone household samples, and (5) methods to protect the privacy of respondents and increase response validity. These innovations are described in terms of actual methods and potential applications.
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