Optimum two-stage sample design for ratio estimators: Application to quality control - 1990 French census

This study is based on the use of superpopulation models to anticipate, before data collection, the variance of a measure by ratio sampling. The method, based on models that are both simple and fairly realistic, produces expressions of varying complexity and then optimizes them, in some cases rigorously, in others approximately. The solution to the final problem discussed points up a rarely considered factor in sample design optimization: the cost related to collecting individual information.