Adaptive Reuse of National Public Health Survey Samples for Estimating Hard-to-Locate Population Characteristics

• Activity Number: 151
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Monday, August 1, 2011 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Risk Analysis
• Author(s): Myron J. Katzoff*+
• Companies: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/NCHS
• Keywords: adaptive sampling ; network sampling ; indirect sampling

Abstract

Adaptive re-use of samples from public health surveys can provide information in emergency situations where: (1) there is an urgent need for information; (2) a sampling frame for a small, but possibly growing, target population is not available but one for a conventional design (i.e., one employing traditional nonparametric sampling methods and design-based estimation procedures) is available; and (3) certain provisions can be made for modifications in data-collection practices. In the early stages of a public health emergency, the target populations are typically small and, therefore, hard-to-locate; adaptive sampling procedures are among the approaches developed for estimating the characteristics of these populations. Adaptive methods are examined with regard to how they may be applied to inform the decision-making that accompanies the tracking and monitoring of interventions.