Issues Relating to the Use of Jackknife Methods In

The analysis of survey data requires the application of special statistical methods to adjust for the effects of a complex sampling design that has been implemented to satisfy analytic objectives, contain survey costs, and ease the administrative burden of carrying out the survey. The complex sampling design may entail stratification, clustering, unequal probability sampling, and the use of auxiliary sampling frames. Särndal, Swensson, and Wretman [1] provide a recent overview of statistical methods that account for the complex sampling design’s effect on the expected error that is incurred in estimating finite population parameters. It is for this reason that in this paper we refer to the statistical adjustments that are made to survey weights to account for the effects of a complex sampling design as sampling design adjustments.