Abstract: The method for gathering items of information from persons representing a sample of the population comprises establishing a list of questions or propositions; inscribing each proposition on a distinct card; supplying to each of the persons of the sample a group of cards each bearing one of the propositions in respect of which these persons must give an opinion; placing each of these persons in front of a support comprising a given number of compartments assigned different values; each of the persons constituting the sample classifying the various propositions by disposing the corresponding cards in the various compartments of the support; then assigning to each proposition a "mark" or a "coefficient" in accordance with its position on the support. Such a method permits in particular establishing an exact order of importance among a certain number of propositions and operating with smaller but nonetheless representative samples.