The DOI matches its Crossref record; 23 of the 23 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Comment: Snowball versus Respondent-Driven Sampling
Open accessAbstract
Leo Goodman (2011) provided a useful service with his clarification of the differences among snowball sampling as originally introduced by Coleman (1958–1959) and Goodman (1961) as a means for studying the structure of social networks; snowball sampling as a convenience method for studying hard-to-reach populations (Biernacki and Waldorf 1981); and respondent-driven sampling (RDS), a sampling method with good estimability for studying hard-to-reach populations (Heckathorn 1997, 2002, 2007; Salganik and Heckathorn 2004; Volz and Heckathorn 2008). This comment offers a clarification of a related set of issues. One is confusion between the latter form of snowball sampling, and RDS. A second is confusion resulting from multiple forms of the RDS estimator that derives from the incremental manner in which the method was developed. This comment summarizes the development of the method, distinguishing among seven forms of the estimator.
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Citations
Cites
Snowball Sampling: Problems and Techniques of Chain Referral Sampling
Biernacki, P., & Waldorf, D. (1981) · Sociological Methods & Research · doi:10.1177/004912418101000205 · Cited by 5,464
(1963) · Cited by 5,261
Respondent-Driven Sampling: A New Approach to the Study of Hidden Populations
Heckathorn, D. D. (1997) · Social Problems · doi:10.1525/sp.1997.44.2.03x0221m · Cited by 4,409
Self-citationGoodman, L. A. (1961) · The Annals of Mathematical Statistics · doi:10.1214/aoms/1177705148 · Cited by 3,606
5. Sampling and Estimation in Hidden Populations Using Respondent-Driven Sampling
Salganik, M. J., & Heckathorn, D. D. (2004) · Sociological Methodology · doi:10.1111/j.0081-1750.2004.00152.x · Cited by 1,953
Self-citationHeckathorn, D. D. (2002) · Social Problems · doi:10.1525/sp.2002.49.1.11 · Cited by 1,878
Self-citationOutsiders: Studies in The Sociology of Deviance.
Sykes, G., & Becker, H. S. (1964) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2094660 · Cited by 1,774
Review of sampling hard-to-reach and hidden populations for HIV surveillance
Magnani, R., Sabin, K., Saidel, T., & Heckathorn, D. (2005) · AIDS · doi:10.1097/01.aids.0000172879.20628.e1 · Cited by 1,043
Self-citationRelational Analysis: The Study of Social Organizations with Survey Methods
Coleman, J. S. (1958) · Human Organization · doi:10.17730/humo.17.4.q5604m676260q8n7 · Cited by 809
7. Respondent-Driven Sampling: An Assessment of Current Methodology
Gile, K. J., & Handcock, M. S. (2010) · Sociological Methodology · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9531.2010.01223.x · Cited by 613
Cited by
Comparision of Snowball Sampling and Sequential Sampling Technique
Etikan, I. (2016) · Biometrics & Biostatistics International Journal · doi:10.15406/bbij.2016.03.00055 · Cited by 485
Assessing scientists for hiring, promotion, and tenure
Moher, D., Naudet, F., Cristea, I. A., Miedema, F., Ioannidis, J. P. A., & Goodman, S. N. (2018) · PLOS Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2004089 · Cited by 462
Rethinking digital financial inclusion: Evidence from Bangladesh
Aziz, A., & Naima, U. (2021) · Technology in Society · doi:10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101509 · Cited by 373
Linking AI quality performance and customer engagement: The moderating effect of AI preference
Prentice, C., Weaven, S., & Wong, I. A. (2020) · International Journal of Hospitality Management · doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102629 · Cited by 303
Cheah, Y. H., Lu, J., & Kim, J. (2025) · Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence · doi:10.1016/j.caeai.2025.100363 · Cited by 134
Metadata
- Authors
- Heckathorn, D. D.
- Venue
- Sociological Methodology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2011-08
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 355-366
- ISSN
- 0081-1750 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9531
- OpenAlex
- W14856489
- Cited by
- 930
- References
- 23
- FWCI
- 10.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
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