This article attends to snowball sampling via constructivist and feminist hermeneutics, suggesting that when viewed critically, this popular sampling method can generate a unique type of social knowledge—knowledge which is emergent, political and interactional. here. First, a full set of data sources is defined, creating a list of the members of the population to be studied, known as a sampling frame. In this paper, we use quantitative analyses from our experiences with snowball sampling to further reflect on these recommendations, which are briefly described below. We define key terms for this paper such as ‘snowball sampling’ or ‘sampling’, since these terms are not consistently codified in the scholarly literature. Under purposeful sampling, there are several ways of selecting individuals for a qualitative study. Prior personal contacts are not essential for achieving sample diversity but tend to be helpful, as generating new contacts during research can be labour-intensive. the seed of the interview pathway was a contact we had already retained prior to the research project). Snowball sampling is one of the most popular methods of sampling in qualitative research, central to which are the characteristics of networking and referral. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Approval for this study was granted by the Central University Research Ethics Committee (CUREC) of the University of Oxford. To learn about our use of cookies and how you can manage your cookie settings, please see our Cookie Policy. Others [1, 39] specifically oppose quantitative scholars’ negative framing of snowball sampling, arguing that this method would ‘generate a unique type of social knowledge’ ([1], p. 327). Second, a specific sample of data is collected from this sampling frame. Difficult-to-reach-populations are also referred to as ‘hard-to-reach-populations’ [28], ‘hidden populations’ [29] or ‘concealed populations’ [21] in the scholarly literature. Register to receive personalised research and resources by email, Sampling Knowledge: The Hermeneutics of Snowball Sampling in Qualitative Research, /doi/full/10.1080/13645570701401305?needAccess=true, International Journal of Social Research Methodology. Thus, the researcher’s sample builds and becomes larger as the study continues, much as a snowball builds and becomes larger as it rolls through the snow. The article reflects upon researches about backpacker tourists and marginalized men, where snowball sampling was successfully employed in investigating these groups' organic social networks and social dynamics. An experimental research design would yield the most robust insights on sampling procedures to enhance the sampling diversity of a snowball sample (with, for instance, one research project staffed with scholars with relevant personal or professional contacts and another staffed with scholars without relevant contacts). However, as this advice is not based on a quantitative analysis of evidence, but only on anecdotal evidence, there is a risk that these recommendations are based on coincidence. Registered in England & Wales No. A ‘helpful hint’ for qualitative researchers seeking informants is, ‘Persevere–repeat contact’ [64]. Yes 5 Howick Place | London | SW1P 1WG. Many of the observations discussed in this article were initially raised by frustrated students, grappling with constructivist epistemologies and methods of interviewing. Login or create a profile so that you can create alerts and save clips, playlists, and searches. The increasing use of telecommunications in recent years is likely to have further reduced barriers to remote interviewing, and various scholars [57,58] continue to claim that ‘evidence is lacking that [telephone interviews] produce lower quality data’ ([59], p. 391). Creswell, for instance, notes that ‘the intent [of qualitative research] is not to generalise to a population, but to develop an in-depth [and contextualised] exploration of a central phenomenon’ ([42], p. 203). (1) Unable to retrace for 13 identified reach-outs if initiated via referral or cold call; four reach-outs coded as ‘Other’. I am also indebted to the helpful comments suggested by Shirly Bar‐Lev, Michal Hamo and by anonymous referees of this journal. To gauge the network premium, we subtracted the cold call response rate (i.e., the number of interviews initiated via cold calls divided by the total number of cold calls) from the referral response rate (i.e. We considered this weak response rate to be due, at least in part, to the dam industry’s negative view of academicians since the publication of Ansar et al. Similarly, qualitative research textbooks often lack substantive discussion of snowball sampling (e.g., [8, 14–19]). Nevertheless, the scarce data we collected regarding persistence indicates its value. Sample diversity is measured by representation from five identified sub-groups. Overall, this work aims to advance the literature on snowball sampling as a qualitative sampling approach. For further discussion of this terminology, see [30, 31]. Of our 81 interviews, 48 (59%) were conducted via telephone, 26 (32%) face-to-face and 7 (9%) online, either via e-mail or an online survey. Please log in from an authenticated institution or log into your member profile to access the email feature. Researchers grounded in quantitative thinking, such as Lijphart [37] and King et al. long, in-depth foundation entries, read about the people that were pioneers for this subject, Ultimately, ‘an important topic is worth studying even if very little [access to] information is available’ ([38], p. 6). These interviews proved to be essential for our research. We also thank Ralf van Santen for his outstanding contributions to this work as a research assistant. (3) Including personal contacts and contacts via conferences. The overall results from these analyses are encouraging for scholars interested in researching a population to which no personal or professional contacts are retained prior to the research project. In addition, our population was very specific and thus may not be comparable to other difficult-to-reach populations, and we also did not adopt an experimental research design as described above. SAMPLING FOR QUALITATIVE RESEARCH The aim of the qualitative research is to understand, from within, the subjective reality of the study participants. During the past two decades we have witnessed a rather impressive growth of theoretical innovations and conceptual revisions of epistemological and methodological approaches within constructivist‐qualitative quarters of the social sciences. Patton ([5], p. 176) notes that snowball sampling ‘begins by asking well-situated people: “Who knows a lot about ____? Political Science and International Relations, http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526421036831710, CCPA – Do Not Sell My Personal Information. The major conflicting parties in the dam industry tend to be local and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and academics (usually keen not to construct a particular dam) versus international donors, the private sector and governments (usually keen to construct a particular dam) [71, 72]. No, Is the Subject Area "Qualitative studies" applicable to this article? Sampling is a very complex issue in qualitative research as there are many variations of qualitative sampling described in the literature and much confusion and overlapping of types of sampling, particularly in the case of purposeful and theoretical sampling. A difficult-to-reach population does not wish to be found or contacted (e.g., illegal drug users, illegal migrants, prostitutes or homeless people [6, 31]). For instance, over 25 years ago, it was claimed there were ‘no remarkable differences’ ([56], p. 211) between information collected via telephone and information collected via face-to-face interviews. Sampling Knowledge: The Hermeneutics of Snowball Sampling in Qualitative Research. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0201710.g003. Our data suggest that persistence can indeed enhance sample diversity, but we can also conclude that excessive persistence does not necessarily yield dividends. Significant differences in the value of referrals persist from one interviewee group to another (Fig 3). No, Is the Subject Area "Research design" applicable to this article? Fig 5 aims to quantify the value of face-to-face interviews. Boulton and Fitzpatrick demand, for instance, that qualitative researchers ‘ensure that the full diversity of individuals […] is included [in their sample]’ ([50], p. 84), a mandate echoed by other scholars [16, 51–53].

.

Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausage Recipes, Ramadan Time Table 2020 Singapore, Is Fire Plasma, San Marzano Tomatoes Substitute, Ozeri Stone Earth Frying Pans Review, Juki Ddl 8700-7 Parts List Pdf, Frozen Breakfast Burritos Brands,