Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (3)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by WALTER, S. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by WALTER, S. D.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 130, No. 2: 379-389
Copyright © 1989 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health

research-article

THE FEASIBILITY OF MATCHING AND QUOTA SAMPLING IN EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES

S. D. WALTER

From the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8N 3Z5

Reprint requests to Dr S D. Walter at this address

Matching is often used to eliminate the effects of potential confounders. The practical execution of a matched design will usually involve additional sampling effort to find appropriate quotas of persons who satisfy the matching criteria. If this effort is substantial, it may render the matched design less attractive than using unmatched samples with covariance adjustment in the analysis. This paper presents numerical results on the sampling effort needed to complete various matched designs: The effort is measured by the number of candidates (N) that must be sampled to identify the matches for analysis. Feasibility of matched sampling is described by the ratio of the expected value of N to its theoretical minimum, and by its coefficient of variation. Feasibility must be weighed against the resulting quality of matches and the possibility of residual confounding. The results show that designs with smaller matching quotas in larger numbers of categories are more difficult to execute. However, the relative variation in N is mainly a function of the category quotas and is only weakly dependent on the number of categories. Recommendations are made regarding the number of categories and the quota sizes that lead to acceptable matched designs. The results are applicable to both observational and experimental studies in which matching or other quota sampling is used.

epidemiologic methods; research design; sampling studies


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Arch DermatolHome page
P. Wolkenstein, J.-J. Grob, S. Bastuji-Garin, S. Ruszczynski, J.-C. Roujeau, and J. Revuz
French People and Skin Diseases: Results of a Survey Using a Representative Sample
Arch Dermatol, December 1, 2003; 139(12): 1614 - 1619.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.