Picking a Nielsen home

Our samples include homes from all 50 states, from cities to towns, from suburbs to rural areas. We have homeowners and apartment dwellers — some with children and some without — across a broad range of demographic categories. We include people of all ages, income groups, geographic areas, ethnicities and educational levels — all in proportion to their presence in the population at large. Once homes are selected and agree to participate, we take great care to protect their identity and privacy, and no data about individuals or specific households are ever disclosed.
Can families volunteer to become a Nielsen home? While we'd like to accept volunteers in our panels, we are unable to do so.
We select households through one of two different methods: geographic selection (area probability sampling) in the national sample and larger markets, and randomly-generated telephone numbers (Total Telephone Frame) in smaller markets.
For area probability sampling, Nielsen's statistical research department begins with broad, U.S. Census-defined geographic areas. We dispatch field representatives to identify each and every housing unit in these areas, regardless of size or accessibility. Ultimately, we narrow the selection down to individual, randomly-selected housing units. Using this method, all households have an equal probability of selection into the sample. This allows for complete coverage of the country, since no homes are excluded by design.