multistage sampling

a technique in which samples are drawn first from higher order groupings (e.g., states) and then from successively lower level groupings (e.g., counties within states, towns within counties) in order to avoid the necessity of having a sampling frame for the entire population. That is, if subunits within a selected unit give similar results, one can select and measure a sample of the subunits in any chosen unit to avoid uneconomically measuring all of them. When two grouping sets are involved, the process is also known as two-stage sampling, when three sets are involved it is also called three-stage sampling, and so on.

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Psychology term of the day

January 30th 2025

superego

n. in psychoanalytic theory, the moral component of the personality that represents parental and societal standards and determines personal standards of right and wrong, or conscience, as well as aims and aspirations (see ego-ideal). In the classic Freudian tripartite structure of the psyche, the ego, which controls personal impulses and directs actions, operates by the rules and principles of the superego, which stem from parental demands and prohibitions. The formation of the superego occurs on an unconscious level, beginning in the first 5 years of life and continuing throughout childhood and adolescence and into adulthood, largely through identification with the parents and later with admired models of behavior. See also primitive superego.