Two-stage Sampling Design and Sample Selection with the R package R2BEAT

Abstract: R2BEAT (R "to" Bethel Extended Allocation for Two-stage sampling) is an R package for the allocation of a sample. Besides other software and packages dealing with the allocation problems, its peculiarity lies in facing properly allocation problems for complex sampling designs with multi-domain and multi-purpose aims. This is common in many official and non-official statistical surveys, therefore R2BEAT could become an essential tool for planning a sample survey. The package implements the Tschprow (1923) - Neyman (1934) method for the optimal allocation of units in stratified sampling, extending it to the multivariate (accordingly to Bethel's proposal (1989)), multi-domain and to the complex sampling designs case (Falorsi et al., 1998). The functions implemented in R2BEAT allow the use of different workflows, depending on the available information on one or more interest variables. The package covers all the phases, from the optimization of the sample to the selection of the Primary and Secondary Stage Units. Furthermore, it provides several outputs for evaluating the allocation results.