Background: The World Health Organization
(WHO) initiated the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) in 1974. It has
been widely used in different studies. Along with this, other survey
methodologies have been compared to study immunization coverage at different
regions. To consider different survey methodologies, one of the most important
factors is the cost incurred that survey methodology. A survey method is
considered as more efficient or better than the other survey method if the cost
incurred in a particular method is less than the other one. Methods: In this
study, cost incurred in two stage (30 × 30) cluster sampling and systematic
sampling methods have been compared using a cost function for measles vaccine
coverage. Measles vaccine coverage data has been taken from the survey
“Comparison of Two Survey Methodologies to Estimates Total Vaccination
Coverage” sponsored by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi.
Results: The results show that there are no significant differences between the
point estimates of measles vaccine coverage under the considered survey
methodologies. But the cost incurred in systematic sampling is more than that
of two stage cluster sampling. Conclusion: It can be concluded that systematic
sampling survey is costlier than that of two stage cluster sampling for this
study population.
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