1. Introduction
In many real-life studies, specifically in ecological and environmental research, the variable of interest, say
Y, may not be effectively perceptible; the measurements might be costly, tedious, intrusive or even destructive on the subjects being measured. Despite the difficulties or complexities in data collection, ranking the sampled units may be relatively straightforward at no extra cost or with almost no expense. Consider the following example: calliphoridae flies detect and colonize on a food source, such as a decaying corpse, as a natural means of survival within minutes of death. Thus, forensic entomologists frequently use calliphoridae fly larvae to estimate a cadaver’s time since death during their post-mortem investigations. As soon as the larvae reach their largest size, they cease eating. Because their anterior intestine is always empty during the course of their future development, forensic entomologists can accurately determine the post-mortem interval by observing how full their intestines are. However, it is challenging to determine changes in the intestinal contents of maggots using radiographic techniques [
1].
Meanwhile, since the larvae appear to lengthen in a continuous manner during their growth, it is relatively easy to measure and rank their length. As another example, in a health-related study, suppose that the interest is in estimating the mean cholesterol level of a population. Instead of performing an invasive blood test on all subjects in the sample, subjects can be ranked with respect to their weights, even just visually, and the blood sample can be taken only on a small number of subjects.
For such circumstances, as described in examples, ranked set sampling (RSS) is a method for handling data collecting and processing. In order to estimate mean pasture yields, McIntyre originally proposed RSS in 1952. Takahasi and Wakimoto [
2] later developed the RSS theory under the presumption of perfect ranking. The RSS is carried out as follows: the population is divided into a simple random sample of size
, each unit is rated according to subjective criteria, the smallest unit in the sample is measured, and the remaining units are eliminated. After ranking each unit according to the same criteria, a second simple random sample of size
is chosen from the population. The second smallest unit is then measured, and the remaining units are discarded. Until the ordered units are measured, this process is repeated. A cycle is defined as the ordered observations
, where
denotes the cycle number. A total sample size of
is produced once the cycles are repeated
m times.
Since its inception, RSS has attracted a great deal of attention from scholars, and it continues to be a very active research area. Beyond its initial horticultural-based origins in the foundational work by McIntyre [
3], it has now begun to find its way into commercial applications. For more details regarding RSS, intrigued readers may refer to Chen et al. [
4], Samawi and Muttlak [
5], Bouza [
6], Jeelani and Bouza [
7], Eftekharian and Razmkhah [
8] and Koyuncu [
9]. In order to estimate the population mean, Muttlak [
10] suggested median ranked set sampling (MRSS) and demonstrated that it produces estimates that are more accurate than RSS. MRSS can be thought of as a modified form of RSS, where the median of each sample in a cycle is measured rather than the
(
) smallest unit in each ranked sample.
The most popular estimator of the population mean in sampling theory is the classic ratio estimator when there is a high positive correlation between the study variable (
Y) and the auxiliary variable (
X) [
11]. Al-Omari [
12] took the MRSS scheme into consideration when proposing new ratio-type estimators that are based on the first and third quartiles of the auxiliary variable. The original structure of the MRSS proposed by Al-Omari [
12] requires the use of
independent samples of each size
bivariate units from a finite population. The variable of interest
Y is ranked by individual judgment, such as by a visual examination, or by means of the utilization of an accompanying variable associated with
Y. Al-Omari [
12] considered ranking on the auxiliary variable
X as follows: When
is odd in a cycle, the
smallest
X and the corresponding
Y are chosen from each sample. When
is even, the
smallest
X and the associated
Y are chosen from the first
set and the
smallest
X and associated
Y are chosen from the remaining
set. For more information, see Al-Omari [
12]. The cycles can be repeated
times to obtain a total sample size of
. Later, Koyuncu [
13] expanded on Al-Omari [
12] concept and introduced estimators of the regression, exponential, and difference types. However, all this work is completed on traditional ratio and regression-type mean estimation under MRSS. In this paper, taking motivation from these, we have made an attempt to develop calibration-type mean estimators under stratified MRSS.
The remainder of this article is structured as follows: In
Section 2, we present a calibration technique and present adapted estimators under stratified MRSS. In
Section 3, we propose a new family of estimators with a set of calibration constraints.
Section 4 is dedicated to a two-stage MRSS scheme. In
Section 5, where we compare the effectiveness of our suggested estimators with modified estimators, we conducted a thorough simulation analysis. Finally, in
Section 6, we offer our concluding remarks.
2. Adapted Estimators under Stratified MRSS Design
The effectiveness of the mean estimator from a finite population can be increased at various stages when auxiliary information is supplied. There are many instances in everyday life where the research variable Y and the auxiliary variable X have a linear relationship. Think about your height and weight, as taller people tend to weigh more; think about your GPA and SAT scores, as students with higher GPAs typically perform better on the SAT test; think about the relationship between depression and suicide: severe depression increases the chance of suicide compared to those who do not have depression [
14]; take body mass index (BMI) and total cholesterol as an example. It has been demonstrated that these two variables have a direct and positive association [
15].
A basic method of adjusting the initial weights with the goal of minimizing a specified distance measure while taking into account auxiliary data is known as calibration estimation. By creating new calibration weights in stratified sampling, researchers have attempted to boost estimates of the population parameter in the literature. A distance metric and a set of calibration constraints are the two fundamental building blocks in the creation of new calibration weights.
The development of calibration estimation in survey sampling dates back to Deville and Sarndal [
16]. In the presence of auxiliary information, they created the calibration restrictions. They claim that when the sample sum of the weighted auxiliary variable equals the known population total for that auxiliary variable, the calibrated weights may provide accurate estimations. Because there is a significant correlation between the study variable and the auxiliary variables, weights that are effective for the auxiliary variable should also be effective for the research variable. Numerous authors have investigated calibration estimates utilizing various calibration constraints in survey sampling in the wake of Deville and Sarndal [
16]. The first extended calibration method for a stratified sampling design was introduced by Singh, Horn, and Yu [
17]. Koyuncu and Kadilar [
13] provided corrected expressions of Tracy et al. [
18] calibrated weights, and also new improved calibration weights are introduced. Furthermore, Sinha et al. [
19] and Garg and Pachori [
20] have extended the work in the two-stage stratified sampling scheme. Taking motivation from these important studies, we are adapting Sinha et al. [
19] and Garg and Pachori [
20] estimators under MRSS.
2.1. Sinha et al. (2017) Estimator [19]
In a stratified sampling design, a random sample of size , is drawn without replacement from a population of size in stratum , . Let , be the order statistics of and the judgment order of , in stratum, for . Furthermore, and indicate that the ranking of X is perfect and the ranking of Y has errors. For odd and even sample sizes, the units measured using MRSS are denoted by M(O) and M(E), respectively.
As per each reviewer suggestion, let us provide small examples for sample selection in case of even and odd sample sizes so that readers catch the true spirit of this article as given below:
In case of an even sample size in the
stratum, the
smallest
X and the associated
Y are chosen from the first
set and the
smallest
X and associated
Y are chosen from the remaining
set. Let us take a small example of MRSS for the even sample size in
Table 1 for (
i = 1,2,...,4). Clearly, for
,
with an associated
Y is selected for the first and second cycles, i.e.,
and
. Furthermore,
with associated
Y is selected for the remaining two cycles, i.e.,
and
.
In case of odd sample size in the
stratum, the
smallest
X and the associated
Y are chosen from each set. Let us take a small example of MRSS for the odd sample size in
Table 2 for (
i = 1, 2, 3). Clearly, for
,
with associated
Y is selected from each cycle, i.e.,
and
.
For odd sample size, let denote the observed units by M(O) in stratum. Let and be the overall sample means of strata for X and Y, respectively. Furthermore, and , be the sample means in stratum. In addition, and , where and . Note that and are the overall sample variances of strata for Y and X, respectively. The notations and are representing the selected MRSS sample values of study and auxiliary variables for odd sample size.
For even sample size, let
,
,
denote the observed units by M(E) in the
stratum. Let
and
be the overall sample means of
strata for
X and
Y, respectively. Here,
and
are the sample means in
stratum. In addition,
and
, where
,
,
and
. Note that
and
are the overall sample variances of
strata for
Y and
X, respectively. The notations
,
are representing the selected MRSS sample values of study and auxiliary variables for even sample size. For more details about MRSS notations, interested readers may refer to Koyuncu [
13].
Let
denote the sample size even or odd; we are adapting Sinha et al.’s [
19] calibration estimator under MRSS design as given by
subject to the constraints
where
is the population mean of auxiliary variable in the
stratum. By defining
and
as Lagrange multipliers, the Lagrange function is given by
Differentiating
according to calibration weight and obtaining the optimum value of
putting (5) in (2) and (3), we obtain
By substituting these weights in (5), we obtain calibration weights as
Finally, by putting
in
and obtaining the calibrated mean estimator of study variable
This estimator can be rewritten as
where
2.2. Garg and Pachori (2019) Estimator [20]
Let
denote the sample size even or odd; we are adapting Garg and Pachori’s (2019) calibration estimator under MRSS design as given by
subject to the constraints
where
represent the sample and population coefficient of variation (CV) of the auxiliary variable in the
stratum. By defining
and
as Lagrange multipliers, the Lagrange function is given by
Differentiating
according to calibration weight and obtaining the optimum value of
putting (17) in (14) and (15), we obtain
By substituting these weights in (17), we obtain calibration weights as
By putting
in
and obtaining the calibrated mean estimator of study variable
This estimator can be rewritten as
where