Generalization of diagonal systematic sampling scheme for finite populations

Diagonal systematic sampling scheme is introduced by Subramani (2000, Jour. Ind. Soc. Ag. Statist.) as an alternative to linear systematic sampling, provided the population size N = n k and the sample size n ⩽ k , where k is the number of samples. In this paper an attempt has been made to relax the condition of n ⩽ k . Further the efficiency of the generalized diagonal systematic sampling with the simple random sampling and the systematic sampling is assessed for certain labelled and natural populations. Yates type end corrections are also suggested for further improvements.