GPS in China Social Surveys: Lessons from the ILRC Survey

Although the method for constructing population density frames for spatial sampling is still in the early stages of development, this article shows that such a frame call be successfully developed and that spatial sampling with GPS is a promising sampling method to integrate both migrants and non-migrants into a common representative sample of the Chinese population. Despite the difficulty of excluding patently empty spaces ex ante and the resulting high rates of unpopulated areas and - most notably - final sampling units, a detailed examination of mean estimates and design effects of key demographic variables shows that the resulting sample is representative, unbiased and relatively precise. Because it overcomes the problems of incomplete coverage which arise with surveys based on formal household registration, this methodology is a step forward over extant sampling approaches.