Sampling in the twenty-first century

This article summarizes the most significant developments in survey sampling in the twentieth century, especially as they relate to marketing and marketing research, and attempts to predict, based on what we know now, significant developments that will occur early in the twenty-first century. The article is divided into the following sections: (1) Developments in Door-to-Door Sampling, (2) Developments in Telephone and Mail Surveys, (3) Location Samples, (4) Focus Groups and Other Sloppy Samples, (5) Sampling Rare Populations, (6) Business Surveys, (7) Panels, (8) Developments in the Theoretical Foundation of Survey Sampling, and (9) The Evolutionary Process and Future Developments. Seymour Sudman is Walter A. Stellner Professor of Marketing and the deputy director of the Survey Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is the author, co-author, or editor of 20 books and more than 200 articles dealing with sampling and survey methods. Edward Blair is a professor of marketing and entrepreneurship at the University of Houston and the head of the department. He is the author (with Seymour Sudman) of a text on marketing research, and his articles on research procedures have appeared in various academic journals. He also has taught sampling and other topics at the American Marketing Association’s School of Marketing Research since its inception.