On the stratification of skewed populations - ARCHIVED

For a given level of precision, Hidiroglou (1986) provided an algorithm for dividing the population into a take-all stratum and a take-some stratum so as to minimize the overall sample size assuming simple random sampling without replacement in the take-some stratum. Sethi (1963) provided an algorithm for optimum stratification of the population into a number of take-some strata. For the stratification of a highly skewed population, this article presents an iterative algorithm which has as objective the determination of stratification boundaries which split the population into a take-all stratum and a number of take-some strata. These boundaries are computed so as to minimize the resulting sample size given a level of relative precision, simple random sampling without replacement from the take-some strata and use of a power allocation among the take-some strata. The resulting algorithm is a combination of the procedures of Hidiroglou (1986) and Sethi (1963).