A new method of imputation in survey sampling

In this paper, an alternative estimator of population mean in the presence of non-response has been suggested which comes in the form of Walsh's estimator. The estimator of mean obtained from the proposed technique remains better than the estimators obtained from ratio or mean methods of imputation. The mean-squared error (MSE) of the resultant estimator is less than that of the estimator obtained on the basis of ratio method of imputation for the optimum choice of parameters. An estimator for estimating a parameter involved in the process of new method of imputation has been discussed. A suggestion to form ‘warm deck’ method of imputation has been suggested. The MSE expressions for the proposed estimators have been derived analytically and compared empirically. The work has been extended to the case of multi-auxiliary information to be used for imputation. Numerical illustrations are also provided.