The SAE group aims to build and maintain a network of researchers to foster collaborative works in the foundations, methodology and applications of Small Area Estimation. Foundation and methodological issues may include the research on survey sampling, modelling and computational aspects, the introduction of efficient approaches under parametric or nonparametric setups, the estimation of mean squared errors including resampling procedures, the application of robust and Bayes methods, the use of time and spatial models and many others. Application issues deal with the estimation of magnitudes in territories or domains where sample sizes are too small to obtain reliable direct estimates.

The SAE group addresses in a good balance: (1) theoretical and methodological developments in small area estimation and related fields, and (2) practical applications of small area estimation methods, including their potential uses in various research areas and official statistics.