1. A method for generating a succession of approximations of the result R of a query on a plurality of data elements D, the method comprising the steps of: a) computing the result A i of the query on a sample S i of D; b) computing an approximation B i of the result R based upon at least the result A i ; and c) generating a succession of approximations by performing steps (a) and (b) multiple times i with different S i .