How to Survey Hard-to-reach Populations

Title

How to Survey Hard-to-reach Populations

Author(s)

Renee Luthra

Organisation

ISER at University of Essex

Date

19 July 2011

No. of pages

2 on-line

Key words

survey techniques; respondent driven sampling; social networks; hard-to-reach populations; data research; formative research; qualitative interviews; research interviewing; target groups

Description

This brief summary derives from a seminar investigating new developments in Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS), an innovative sampling method that uses social networks to find, survey, obtain and use quantitative data that is representative of hard-to-reach populations.

Select quotations

“RDS is an efficient, relatively low cost method to achieve interviews where no sampling frame is present.”

“The authors develop a variety of diagnostic techniques that can be implemented during data collection to monitor and correct violations while still in field.”

“To avoid study failure and poor estimates, formative research is necessary. Formative research consists of multiple methods to assess the appropriateness of RDS for the research question, including qualitative interviews and focus groups with the target population, informational interviews with local organisations, and preliminary testing of the questionnaire and survey materials.”

“A new statistical software package is currently being developed with improved estimators for RDS data.”

“…although RDS is a useful technique to sample hard to reach populations, it is necessary to conduct extensive formative research to assess the appropriateness of the method.”

Link

www.iser.essex.ac.uk/2011/07/19/how-to-survey-hard-to-reach-populations