Snowball sampling Flashcards
Snowball sampling
involves using personal contacts to build up a sample of the group to be studied. This type of sampling is most appropriate where examples of the people to be studied are rare or widely spread, and where the people of interest are likely to know each other and they will help the researcher find more contacts.
Laurie Taylor
when he persuaded a former criminal, to obtain introductions to members of the London underworld of professional crime. Taylor then used these contacts to obtain introductions to more criminals. Clearly, such samples cannot be representative since, to have any chance of being included, those studied must be part of a network of personal contacts.But for groups such as professional criminals it is not easy to use other ways of obtaining a sample.
Objective - researcher doesn’t choose who to sample
Venkatesh
Venkatesh approached a group of Black youths to ask questions, he found himself held hostage overnight, they told him he should hang out, get to know what they do, how they do it, Venkatesh was increasingly introduced to the group allowing him to understand their life. Verstehen - valid, gained rapport
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When the research population is not easy to find or contact
To research groups like the deprived, the socially stigmatised and elites
When the population is difficult to access or get permission to research
When the population is rare and small
To find experts in a particular field or a particular type of person relevant to the research that is not very common
