I agree with Peter here. You probably have a miscommunication issue with your consultant. What a survey is supposed to give you are the estimates of the population parameters. If your consultant just talked about the sample as if they were a population, that would be bad. But if they computed sampling error, then he probably understands the distinction between the two. You, on the other hand, might want to read more on sampling statistics, although you do demonstrate the basic understanding, judging from your first paragraph. What Is a Survey by Fritz Scheuren, past president of the American Statistical Association, is one starting point; a good book such as Lohr (2009) is another.

What might have thrown you off is that the consultant computed the weights that sum up to the population total, and that is the appropriate practice (unlike the practice of providing the weights that sum up to the sample size). So now all counts look like they relate to the population -- and that's a good thing, especially if your "number of females who smoke in the country" is accompanied with a margin of sampling error.

I would also comment that it is probably a good practice to double check on the work of your consultant, especially if you feel that you don't quite understand what they have done. Make sure to not piss them off though by questioning their qualifications. I understand it when my clients check my work in the peer-review way; but I doubt I would return to do business with a client who would ask somebody else to redo my work, especially behind my back without telling me.

I agree with Peter here. You probably have a miscommunication issue with your consultant. What a survey is supposed to give you are the estimates of the population parameters. If your consultant just talked about the sample as if they were a population, that would be bad. But if they computed sampling error, then he probably understands the distinction between the two. You, on the other hand, might want to read more on sampling statistics, although you do demonstrate the basic understanding, judging from your first paragraph. What Is a Survey by Fritz Scheuren, past president of the American Statistical Association, is one starting point; a good book such as Lohr (2009) is another.

What might have thrown you off is that the consultant computed the weights that sum up to the population total, and that is the appropriate practice (unlike the practice of providing the weights that sum up to the sample size). So now all counts look like they relate to the population -- and that's a good thing, especially if your "number of females who smoke in the country" is accompanied with a margin of sampling error.

I would also comment that it is probably a good practice to double check on the work of your consultant, especially if you feel that you don't quite understand what they have done. Make sure to not piss them off though by questioning their qualifications. I understand it when my clients check my work in the peer-review way; but I doubt I would return to do business with a client who would ask somebody else to redo my work, especially behind my back without telling me.