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Activity Number: 239
Type: Topic Contributed
Date/Time: Monday, August 10, 2015 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
Sponsor: Survey Research Methods Section
Abstract #315720
Title: Branching Process Tools for Exploring Respondent-Driven Sampling
Author(s): Bret Hanlon* and Karl Rohe
Companies: University of Wisconsin and University of Wisconsin - Madison
Keywords: branching process ; respondent-driven sample
Abstract:

Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is a popular methodology for sampling hard-to-reach populations to estimate what proportion have a certain condition, for example HIV. In this approach, participants in the study refer people they know into the study; however, many participants fail to refer future participants. If enough fail to make referrals, then the referral process dies and the researchers fail to attain the target sample size. We invoke tools from branching process theory to study this failure. Specifically, modeling the referral process as a multi-type Galton-Watson process, we study the extinction of the process and propose estimators for the extinction probability. We use these ideas to explore sample size calculations for RDS studies. Using these tools, we examine extinction in previous RDS studies.


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