Estimating the Population Median by Nomination Sampling

Abstract

In nomination sampling, the largest values from several independent random samples (nominees) are rank ordered, and an estimate of the population median is formed by interpolating between two of these order statistics. The resulting estimate compares favorably to the sample median of a simple random sample from the same population. When historical data sets retain only extreme values, nomination sampling may offer the only practical way to estimate the population median. The approach may also be useful when potential survey respondents will only participate if they can actively influence the selection of cases for analysis.