Abstract: We present new sampling methods in finite population that allow one to control the joint inclusion probabilities of units and especially the spreading of sampled units in the population. They are based on the use of renewal chains and multivariate discrete distributions to generate the difference of population ranks between successive selected units. With a Bernoulli sampling design, these differences follow a geometric distribution, and with a simple random sampling design they follow a negative hypergeometric distribution. We propose to use other distributions and introduce a large class of sampling designs with and without fixed sample size. The choice of the rank-difference distribution allows us to control units joint inclusion probabilities with a relatively simple method and closed form formula. Joint inclusion probabilities of neighboring units can be chosen to be larger, or smaller, compared to those of Bernoulli or simple random sampling, thus allowing more or less spread of the sample in the population. This can be useful when neighboring units have similar characteristics or, on the contrary, are very different. A set of simulations illustrates the qualities of this method.

Key words and phrases: Sampling design, survey sampling.