Selecting Kindergarten Children by Three Stage Indirect Sampling

• Activity Number: 420
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 3, 2010 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Survey Research Methods
• Author(s): Hans Kiesl*+
• Companies: Regensburg University of Applied Sciences
• Keywords: indirect sampling ; school sampling ; educational survey

Abstract

One cohort of the German National Educational Panel Study consists of a sample of kindergarten children. No nationwide frame of kindergartens is available in Germany, contrary to the situation for primary schools. Following the works of Lavallée, we present a solution by indirect sampling, using links between kindergartens and primary schools. In the first stage, primary schools are selected and all kindergartens are identified that have a link to the sampled schools. In the second stage, for every sampled school we take a random sample of kindergartens linked to this school. In the third stage, samples of children within the sampled kindergartens are selected. Using the links of the sampled kindergartens to all schools in the population, unbiased estimation for the population of children in kindergartens is possible. Our second stage sampling is in addition to the existing literature.