Different ways of contacting members of a sample once they have been selected is the subject of survey data collection.
The purpose of sampling is to reduce the cost and/or the amount of work that it would take to survey the entire target population.
[1] Surveys based on non-probability samples often fail to represent the people in the target population.
For surveys with substantial nonresponse, statisticians have proposed statistical models with which the data sets are analyzed.
Issues related to survey sampling are discussed in several sources, including Salant and Dillman (1994).
[10] For some target populations this process may be easy; for example, sampling the employees of a company by using payroll lists.
However, in large, disorganized populations simply constructing a suitable sample frame is often a complex and expensive task.
The textbook by Groves et alia provides an overview of survey methodology, including recent literature on questionnaire development (informed by cognitive psychology) : The other books focus on the statistical theory of survey sampling and require some knowledge of basic statistics, as discussed in the following textbooks: The elementary book by Scheaffer et alia uses quadratic equations from high-school algebra: More mathematical statistics is required for Lohr, for Särndal et alia, and for Cochran (classic): The historically important books by Deming and Kish remain valuable for insights for social scientists (particularly about the U.S. census and the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan):