It's simply a tool that enables you to capture a sample of them in the absence of other information. (jennifermargulis.net)
In January 1964, and in the absence of any other information, Macleod now editor of The Spectator, used the pretext of a review of a book by Randolph Churchill to publicise his own different and very detailed version of the leadership election. (en.wikipedia.org)
In the absence of other information, AAAS extrapolated outyear funding levels for R&D by calculating how much of each account in the current budget represents R&D and then applying that percentage to proposed funding levels for each account in future years. (aaas.org)