ESTIMATES IN SUCCESSIVE SAMPLING USING A MULTI-STAGE DESIGN.

In this paper, successive sampling procedures using multi-stage sampling design have been developed. It is found that it is generally advantageous to retain a fraction of the sample selected on previous occasions for improving the estimate of a mean on the most recent occasion. This type of partial replacement may sometimes be recommended for estimating a mean over all occasions. This is specially true if the experimenter is interested in not only obtaining an overall estimate for the entire period but also in separate estimates for each occasion. In a sampling enquiry repeated on three occasions it has been observed that for estimating the mean on the third occasion it would be preferable to repeat the same sample fraction from one occasion to the next, while for estimating the mean over all occasions the sample fraction repeated on the second occasion should not be repeated on the third but in its place a sub-sample from the sample selected afresh on the second occasion should be retained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]