Challenges in Sampling Elusive Populations

• Activity Number: 648
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Thursday, August 5, 2010 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Social Statistics Section
• Author(s): Graham Kalton*+
• Companies: Westat
• Keywords: respondent driven sampling ; Rare populations ; location sampling

Abstract

Elusive populations are generally very rare populations that are difficult to locate and identify with standard survey procedures. Examples of elusive populations include refugees, the homeless, illegal immigrants, abused children or elderly persons, injection drug users, and persons with HIV/AIDS. This paper reviews the challenges in sampling elusive populations using standard survey sampling methods for rare populations, including large-scale screening, disproportionate stratified sampling, two-phase sampling, multiple frames, and network sampling. It also discusses the use of location sampling and various forms of link-tracing sample designs based on social networks, including snowball sampling and respondent driven sampling.