Sampling frame

In statistics, a sampling frame is the source material or device from which a sample is drawn. It is a list of all those within a population who can be sampled, and may include individuals, households or institutions.

Importance of the sampling frame is stressed by Jessen and Salant and Dillman.

In many practical situations the frame is a matter of choice to the survey planner, and sometimes a critical one. [...] Some very worthwhile investigations are not undertaken at all because of the lack of an apparent frame; others, because of faulty frames, have ended in a disaster or in cloud of doubt.

— Raymond James Jessen

A slightly more general concept of sampling frame includes area sampling frames, whose elements have a geographic nature. Area sampling frames can be useful for example in agricultural statistics when a suitable and updated agricultural census is not available. In environmental surveys, area sampling frames may be the only option.