The application of sampling technique to statistical data, which a few decades ago was a rarity, has now become common practice. Our past President, Mr F. A. A. Menzler, in his presidential address said:

Sampling, in all its manifestations, has become almost a social and industrial routine. In this paper, by examining in some detail the application of sampling to a particular branch of actuarial work, namely pension fund valuations, an attempt is made to investigate the possibilities of its use in the actuarial-field. By the choice of pension fund valuations, which are a particularly complicated example of the actuarial technique, the investigation will, it is hoped, give a good insight into the sort of problems involved.