Studies of drug users and other elusive populations are impeded by inherent sampling and estimation difficulties. On the one hand, probability-designed sample surveys tend to be expensive, produce a low yield of individuals with rare characteristics of interest, and are inefficient when populations are unevenly distributed. On the other hand, ethnographic and other in-depth studies of drug users and other elusive populations characteristically obtain a large enough sample only through link-tracing referral methods and statistically sound methods have not been available for making inferences from such samples to the larger population of interest. In this project, research is proposed to develop improved sampling design and estimation methods for studies of drug users and other elusive populations.
The aims of the proposed research include (1) development of statistically sound estimation methods for use with the link-tracing procedures prevalent in studies of drug users and other elusive populations, (2) development of improved sampling designs for studies of such populations, (3) development of sampling methods that combine traditional sample survey methods with adaptive or link-tracing procedures, (4) development of sampling methods to increase the yield in the sample of individuals with a rare characteristic, and (5) investigation and development of methods for dealing with non-sampling errors in surveys of drug users and other elusive populations. The proposed methods include the use of adaptive and graph sampling strategies and utilize a variety of design-based and model-based approaches to sampling and estimation.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DA009872-02
Application #
2608205
Study Section
Human Development Research Subcommittee (NIDA)
Project Start
1997-01-15
Project End
1999-11-30
Budget Start
1997-12-01
Budget End
1998-11-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
1998
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Pennsylvania State University
Department
Biostatistics & Other Math Sci
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
City
University Park
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
16802
Thompson, Steven K; Collins, Linda M (2002) Adaptive sampling in research on risk-related behaviors. Drug Alcohol Depend 68 Suppl 1:S57-67