Skip to content

Explore Courses | Elder Research | Contact | LMS Login

Statistics.com
  • Curriculum
    • Curriculum
    • About Us
    • Testimonials
    • Management Team
    • Faculty Search
    • Teach With Us
    • Credit & Credentialing
  • Courses
    • Explore Courses
    • Course Calendar
    • About Our Courses
    • Course Tour
    • Test Yourself!
  • Mastery Series
    • Mastery Series Program
    • Bayesian Statistics
    • Business Analytics
    • Healthcare Analytics
    • Marketing Analytics
    • Operations Research
    • Predictive Analytics
    • Python for Analytics
    • R Programming
    • Rasch & IRT
    • Spatial Statistics
    • Statistical Modeling
    • Survey Statistics
    • Text Mining and Analytics
  • Certificates
    • Certificate Program
    • Analytics for Data Science
    • Biostatistics
    • Programming for Data Science – R (Novice)
    • Programming for Data Science – R (Experienced)
    • Programming for Data Science – Python (Novice)
    • Programming for Data Science – Python (Experienced)
    • Social Science
  • Degrees
    • Degree Programs
    • Computational Data Analytics Certificate of Graduate Study from Rowan University
    • Health Data Management Certificate of Graduate Study from Rowan University
    • Data Science Analytics Master’s Degree from Thomas Edison State University (TESU)
    • Data Science Analytics Bachelor’s Degree – TESU
    • Mathematics with Predictive Modeling Emphasis BS from Bellevue University
  • Enterprise
    • Organizations
    • Higher Education
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • FAQs & Knowledge Base
    • Glossary
    • Site Map
    • Statistical Symbols
    • Weekly Brief Newsletter Signup
    • Word of the Week
Menu Close
  • Curriculum
    • Curriculum
    • About Us
    • Testimonials
    • Management Team
    • Faculty Search
    • Teach With Us
    • Credit & Credentialing
  • Courses
    • Explore Courses
    • Course Calendar
    • About Our Courses
    • Course Tour
    • Test Yourself!
  • Mastery Series
    • Mastery Series Program
    • Bayesian Statistics
    • Business Analytics
    • Healthcare Analytics
    • Marketing Analytics
    • Operations Research
    • Predictive Analytics
    • Python for Analytics
    • R Programming
    • Rasch & IRT
    • Spatial Statistics
    • Statistical Modeling
    • Survey Statistics
    • Text Mining and Analytics
  • Certificates
    • Certificate Program
    • Analytics for Data Science
    • Biostatistics
    • Programming for Data Science – R (Novice)
    • Programming for Data Science – R (Experienced)
    • Programming for Data Science – Python (Novice)
    • Programming for Data Science – Python (Experienced)
    • Social Science
  • Degrees
    • Degree Programs
    • Computational Data Analytics Certificate of Graduate Study from Rowan University
    • Health Data Management Certificate of Graduate Study from Rowan University
    • Data Science Analytics Master’s Degree from Thomas Edison State University (TESU)
    • Data Science Analytics Bachelor’s Degree – TESU
    • Mathematics with Predictive Modeling Emphasis BS from Bellevue University
  • Enterprise
    • Organizations
    • Higher Education
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • FAQs & Knowledge Base
    • Glossary
    • Site Map
    • Statistical Symbols
    • Weekly Brief Newsletter Signup
    • Word of the Week

Blog

Snowball Sampling

  • December 19, 2018
  • , 2:29 pm
Snowball sampling is a form of sampling in which the selection of new sample subjects is suggested by prior subjects.  From a statistical perspective, the method is prone to high variance and bias, compared to random sampling. The characteristics of the initial subject may propagate through the sample to some degree, and a sample derived by starting with subject 1 may differ from that produced by by starting with subject 2, even if the resulting sample in both cases contains both subject 1 and subject 2.  However, …

… standard random sampling is expensive and difficult to achieve in practice even in the best of circumstances.  Snowball sampling has been used in research into marginal or hard-to-reach populations like drug users, gang members, prostitutes, AIDS patients, and other groups.  Often, a referral from a member of the group is the key that unlocks a subject’s willingness to provide information. One early snowball study involved pickpockets; it is hard to imagine randomly selecting pickpockets, much less approaching one out of the blue and saying

“I’m conducting research and would like to ask you about your work as a pickpocket.”

(But see this article about a skilled New York pickpocket who retired from his profession to sell marijuana, at the urging of his wife, who pointed out that it would be safer, legally speaking.)

The difficulty comes when more is claimed for the snowball sample information than the method can support.  It can provide invaluable case-study and exploratory information that could not be gotten in other ways, but it cannot be claimed to generalize reliably – in particular, it is not possible to attach to the results statistical significance or confidence intervals based on random sampling assumptions.

Subscribe to the Blog

You have Successfully Subscribed!

By submitting your information, you agree to receive email communications from statistics.com. All information submitted is subject to our privacy policy. You may opt out of receiving communications at any time.

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Word of the Week – Ruin Theory March 4, 2021
  • Puzzle – Gambler’s Ruin March 4, 2021
  • As an Aspiring Data Scientist, What Do I Really Need to Know About Statistics? March 4, 2021

About Statistics.com

Statistics.com offers academic and professional education in statistics, analytics, and data science at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels of instruction. Statistics.com is a part of Elder Research, a data science consultancy with 25 years of experience in data analytics.

Latest Blogs

  • Word of the Week – Ruin Theory
    March 4, 2021/
    0 Comments
  • Puzzle – Gambler’s Ruin
    March 4, 2021/
    0 Comments
  • As an Aspiring Data Scientist, What Do I Really Need to Know About Statistics?
    March 4, 2021/
    0 Comments

Social Networks

Linkedin
Twitter
Facebook
Youtube

Contact

The Institute for Statistics Education
4075 Wilson Blvd, 8th Floor
Arlington, VA 22203
(571) 281-8817

ourcourses@statistics.com

© Copyright 2021 - Statistics.com, LLC | All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

By continuing to use this website, you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.

Accept