Snowball sampling

• Snowball sampling

  • Can be used if population is not easy to contact
  • E.g. if you were studying students who take illegal drugs you may ask a participant who fits your target population to tell their friends about the study and ask them to get in touch - Thus the sample group appears to grow like a rolling snowball.
  • As the sample builds up - enough data is gathered to be useful for research
• Snowball sampling Adv + Dis

  • Adv = Allows research on 'hidden populations' - difficult to access
  • Dis = prone to many biases