This thesis investigates differentials in the levels of fertility, nuptiality and contraceptive use in Liberia and Ghana, using data from the recent Demographic and Health Surveys in these countries. Of particular interest is the effect of the community in which a woman lives on her current and...

Complex designs are often used to select the sample which is followed over time in a panel survey. We consider some parametric models for panel data and discuss methods of estimating the model parameters which allow for complex schemes. We incorporate survey weights into alternative point...

Government statistical agencies often apply statistical disclosure limitation techniques to survey microdata to protect confidentiality. There is a need for ways to assess the protection provided. This paper develops some simple methods for disclosure limitation techniques which perturb the...

The parameters of a finite mixture model cannot be consistently estimated when the data come from an embedded distribution with fewer components than that being fitted, because the distribution is represented by a subset in the parameter space, and not by a single point. Feng & McCulloch (1996)...

A confidence interval is a standard way of expressing our uncertainty about the value of a population parameter. In survey sampling most methods of confidence interval estimation rely on “reasonable” assumptions to be true in order to achieve nominal coverage levels. Typically these...

Estimates of the distribution of hourly wage rates for employees are an important output for a national statistics agency. However, many employees are not paid by the hour and so their hourly wage rate data are effectively missing in a survey that attempts to collect this information. A standard...

Small area estimation techniques are employed when sample data are insufficient for acceptably precise direct estimation in domains of interest. These techniques typically rely on regression models that use both covariates and random effects to explain variation between domains. However, such...

Small-area estimation techniques have typically relied on plug-in estimation based on models containing random area effects. More recently, regression M-quantiles have been suggested for this purpose, thus avoiding conventional Gaussian assumptions, as well as problems associated with the...

Data sets commonly used in the social sciences are often obtained by sample surveys with complex designs. These designs usually incorporate a multistage selection from a population with a natural hierarchical structure. In addition, these surveys can also be carried out in a repeated manner...

Giving by individuals for development has been illustrated recently by some spectacular examples. A few people giving very large sums, and a very large number of people giving modest amounts, are both important phenomena in the field of development finance. This paper considers how in theory...