Snowball Sampling: Problems and Techniques of Chain Referral Sampling
The work
| Authors | Patrick Biernacki; Dan Waldorf |
|---|---|
| Editors | |
| Type | article |
| Year | 1981 |
| Citekey | biernacki1981snowball |
Where it appeared
| Published in | Sociological Methods & Research |
|---|---|
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 141--163 |
Identifiers
| DOI | 10.1177/004912418101000205 |
|---|---|
| OpenAlex | W2149236908 |
Access
| Landing page | https://doi.org/10.1177/004912418101000205 |
|---|
From OpenAlex, which stores abstracts as an index of words and their positions: what is shown is rebuilt from that, and reads fluently whether or not it is what the author wrote.
Abstract
In spite of the fact that chain referral sampling has been widely used in qualitative sociological research, especially in the study of deviant behavior, the problems and techniques involved in its use have not been adequately explained. The procedures of chain referral sampling are not self-evident or obvious. This article attempts to rectify this methodological neglect. The article provides a description and analysis of some of the problems that were encountered and resolved in the course of using the method in a relatively large exploratory study of ex-opiate addicts.
How it got here
| How it got here | agent via openalex |
|---|---|
| Added | 2026-10-24 18:38 UTC |
| Not denied by | a person 2026-10-29 17:12 UTC |
Cite it as
@article{biernacki1981snowball,
title = {Snowball Sampling: Problems and Techniques of Chain Referral Sampling},
author = {Patrick Biernacki and Dan Waldorf},
year = {1981},
journal = {Sociological Methods \& Research},
publisher = {SAGE Publishing},
volume = {10},
number = {2},
pages = {141--163},
doi = {10.1177/004912418101000205},
}
This record lives at https://refs.drheap.org/biernacki1981snowball/ and will keep doing so.