A comparative study of Ranked Set Sampling (RSS) and Simple Random Sampling (SRS) in agricultural studies: A case study on the walnut tree

Abstract

Sampling methods are used extensively in agricultural researches. In the sampling process, taking into consideration the characteristics of the target population and the use of a sampling method which can best represent the population make the estimates more sensitive and lead better estimations for the population. Several sampling methods have been developed for this purpose. In particular, Ranked Set Sampling (RSS) is a method that is used where it is difficult to measure all the units in the population, but it is easy and cheap to sort units in a small-sized population. In this study, we used the data based on the type of walnut tree leafage, Şebin, from a walnut garden established in the province of Giresun. The data was analyzed by using RSS designs and Simple Random Sampling (SRS) method to determine the mean estimators of the population. Finally, estimation performances of the SRS and RSS methods were compared accordingly. The study also emphasizes the advantage the RSS method requires fewer examples than the SRS method.