Gerhard Tintner’s Review of Moderne Methoden in der Agrarstatistik (1958)

Gerhard Tintner’s journal book review evaluates Heinrich Strecker’s 1957 study of modern statistical methods in West German agriculture, especially sample surveys. Its central judgment is that the book demonstrates the successful practical use of advanced sampling methods while making that experience accessible to an international statistical readership. Tintner recommends it to applied statisticians, agricultural economists concerned with Western Europe, and economic statisticians. Although the book is written in German, he considers its English summary excellent and sufficient to assist readers with some knowledge of German.

The review moves from Strecker’s intellectual background and historical introduction to a compact account of agricultural sampling applications, before closing with an assessment of the book’s scholarly apparatus and contribution. Tintner identifies Strecker as a Munich lecturer and student of Oskar Anderson, emphasizing his familiarity with international research, particularly English-language publications. This establishes the book’s connection to theoretical statistics without displacing the review’s principal interest: how sampling performs in agricultural administration.

The strongest numerical evidence concerns preliminary results for the 1949 West German agricultural census. A stratified sample using three strata supplied results quickly, with a small fraction of agricultural enterprises:

The results were encouraging; in spite of the fact that the sample comprised only 2% of all agricultural enterprises, 9/10 of the deviations from the complete enumeration in the census were less than 10%.

Tintner uses comparison with complete enumeration as evidence of sampling’s practical value. His judgment rests on the reported relationship between sample size and deviations from census results; he does not offer a separate technical analysis of error or claim that sampling eliminates uncertainty.

The subsequent examples show the breadth of implementation. Half-yearly stratified surveys, conducted since 1952 with an 8% sample of farms, estimated the farm labor force. Four-stage procedures were used for crop statistics and fruit yields. Livestock surveys employed two strata in 1950 and four in Bavaria in 1952, with a sampling average of about 12% across West Germany. Milk-production surveys used three strata, while a 1952 land-use survey covered approximately 3.5% of communities. These details support the review’s broader conclusion:

It is encouraging to learn that the most modern methods of sampling have been used successfully in Western Germany since the last war.

The closing appraisal links these applications to scholarly continuity. Tintner praises the bibliography and indexes and places Strecker’s book alongside H. Kellerer’s earlier contribution to sampling theory. His final question extends the favorable assessment into an expectation for further research:

May we expect in the near future additional significant contributions by German scholars to the theory and practical application of statistics?

The review’s relevance thus lies in its concise testimony to the connection between statistical theory, international scholarship, and postwar agricultural survey practice.