Essential Methods for Design Based Sample Surveys presents key method contributions selected from the volume in the Handbook of Statistics: Sample Surveys: Design, Methods and Applications, Vol. 29a (2009). This essential reference provides specific aspects of sample survey design, with references to important contributions and available software. The content is aimed at researchers and practitioners who use statistical methods in design based sample surveys and market research. This book presents the core essential methods of sample selection and data processing. The data processing discussion covers editing and imputation, and methods of disclosure control. This reference contains a large variety of applications in specialized areas such as household and business surveys, marketing research, opinion polls and censuses.