Abstract:

My task is to give an introduction into a discussion about a very important subject which we all know very well since a long time in every country - namely the sampling procedure. What may be the particular aspect of sampling problems on a European scale? Someone may have the opinion that a European sample is simply the addition of samples of the different countries. Up to a certain point this may be correct. Nevertheless, there will be a set of additional problems which we shall meet in practice - and therefore I want to pick up these extraordinary problems. I propose that we treat, at first, the sample of individuals and that we neglect - for the moment at least - those samples which are based on other units than individuals or households.