OPEN - ESDS

THE SAMPLE
Conwsrslon to PAF
FES SAMPLING DETAILS
Each year we call on shut 11,400 addresses in Great Brltaln taken at monthly
inter tals. Until 1985 the addresses were draw” from the Electoral Register but
ara nm taken from the Post Office’s llst of addresses: the Postcode Address
Fila (PAF).
Effect of reeligible addresaea on quota size
The PAF M the Post Office’s list of addresaes (or ‘del Luzry points’ , as they
call them) and ~stcodes for Great Britain. It is a mod sampling frame in that
it is aa nearly as posalble a complete list of addreasen and, being held on
computer tapes, it ia relatively easy to use for &awing a sample. The
addreasea on your list ha we been selected at random from the ‘ SIM1l user’
Postcode Address File, that iB the file of deliw!ry ponts which recelw? fewer
than 25 articles of mal per day. By using only the small user file we hope to
awld sampllng large lnstitut~ons and businesses. Howe vsr, some small
buslnessas or commercial premises may be sampled and appear on your address
list. Therefore you may f~nd a slightly higher proportion of Ineligible
addresseg than in an Electoral Register sample, particularly In quotas Ln city
centres, where shops could be sampled (Note, however, that you must call at all
the sampled addresses to check for resldantlal accommodation) .
The FES relates only to domestic households (which satisfy the conditions In
sections Al to A1O of Inter mewer Instructions) which are In residence at the
gi -n addrasa at the time of the lnterwewers first call.
Address List
An example of a PAF address list, reduced in alze, IS included for reference on
page 2. The top two llnes gxvc general unformatlon about the quota. Working
from left to right they giws the followlng details.
TOP LINE
Sur WY Number The survey number, name and year will be consistent
Survey Name throughout the year but, obmously, the quarter and month
Year Quarter will change.
Month
Inter wewer The intaSViOWeI’s
m Field Branch.
Office Use This gl tes HQ the
printed.
name
date
and number WI1l be written >n by hand
on which the address list was
1s 366