TheSURVEY FRAME, also called the sampling frame, is the tool used to gain access to the population.

There are two

types of frames: list frames and area frames. A list frame is a list of names and addresses that provide direct access to
'individuals' (e.g., a list of hospitals, a list of restaurants, a list of students at a university). Area frames are a list of
geographic areas that provide indirect access to individuals (e.g., the farms in a village, or neighborhoods in a city). This
type of access is called indirect because first, a list of geographic areas must be selected and then, access to
individuals within each selected area must be worked out.
For instance, suppose that the aim is surveying a rural town to see what percentage of residents are farmers. If there
was an area frame, it would enable locating which roads to visit, but one would still have to find out the names and
addresses of the residents on each road.
When there is no single frame that is appropriate, multiple frames can be used. Some sampling techniques use both
types of frames.
A good frame should be complete and up-to-date; no member of the survey population should be excluded from the
frame or duplicated on the frame (represented more than once); and no unit that is not part of the population (e.g.,
deceased persons) should be on the frame. The frame chosen will impact the selected survey population. For instance,
if a list of telephone numbers is used to select a sample of households, then all households without telephones are
excluded from the survey population.
SURVEY UNITS
There are three types of units that have to be accurately identified in order to avoid problems during the selection, data
collection and data analysis stages.
1.

The sampling unit is part of the frame and therefore subject to being selected

2.

The respondent unit or reporting unit provides the information needed by the survey

3.

The unit of reference or unit of analysisthe unit about which information is providedis used to analyze the

survey results.
For example, in a survey about newborns in a certain town, the sampling unit might be a household, the reporting unit
one of the parents or a legal guardian, and the unit of reference the baby.
The sampling units may differ depending on the frame used. This is why the survey population, survey frame and survey
units are defined in conjunction with one another.