Weighting: Why, When, and How?

Abstract

Fundamental questions about weighting (Fig 1) seem to be ~ most common during the analysis of survey data and I encounter them almost every week. Yet we "lack a single, reasonably comprehensive, introductory explanation of the process of weighting" [Sharot 1986], readily available to and usable by survey practitioners, who are looking for simple guidance, and this paper aims to meet some of that need. Some partial treatments have appeared in the survey literature [e.g., Kish 1965], but the topic seldom appears even in the indexes. However, we can expect growing interest, as witnessed by six publications since 1987 listed in the references.