Respondent-driven sampling: empirical evaluation and methodological development

提出了一种收集社会弱势群体数据的新方法，称为受访者驱动抽样。需要进行研究，以评估受访者驱动抽样在收集高质量数据方面的效果，并探索是否可以改进该方法。本研究将测试受访者驱动的抽样是否在伦敦大学生和乌干达渔民工作。它还将使用最先进的统计推断和计算模型来评估和扩展受访者驱动抽样所依据的理论。如果受访者驱动抽样能够证明有效，它将使研究人员和公共卫生工作者能够监测性工作者和注射吸毒者等高度脆弱群体的趋势。例如，可以用来观察这些群体的艾滋病预防项目是成功还是失败的数据。

A new method of gathering data on vulnerable groups in society has been proposed, called Respondent Driven Sampling. Research is needed to assess how well Respondent Driven Sampling works in collecting high-quality data, and also to explore if the method could be improved. This research will test whether Respondent Driven Sampling works in London university students and fishermen in Uganda. It will also evaluate and extend the theory on which Respondent Driven Sampling is based using state-of-the-art statistical inference and computational modellingIf Respondent Driven Sampling can be shown to work well, it will allow researchers and public heath workers to monitor trends in highly-vulnerable groups such as sex-workers and injecting drug users. Data that could be used, for example, to see whether HIV prevention programs in these groups are succeeding or failing.