Scientific article
OA Policy
English

Recruitment and Attrition for Panel Surveys of Hard-to-reach Populations: Some Lessons from a Longitudinal Study on Undocumented Migrants

Published inField methods, 1525822X231210415
First online date2023-11-09
Abstract

Conducting research among hard-to-reach populations is a difficult endeavor because some of their characteristics are known to be associated with survey nonresponse and panel attrition. In the case of the Parchemins study, which followed undocumented migrants over their process of regularization and during the first years of regularized life in Geneva, we underscore the difficulties in recruiting and keeping respondents who come from such a hard-to-reach population. Factors hindering their participation include the fear of being denounced as undocumented, missing time due to high workload, health issues, or language problems. Using unique data from the recruitment and the follow-up processes, we demonstrate that investing high resources and time is particularly beneficial to reach such a population and to reduce attrition over successive data collection waves. In addition, we present the strategies adopted to draw a convenient sample from our targeted population, which mainly relies on generating trust.

Keywords
  • Hard to reach
  • Vulnerability
  • Panel data
  • Migration
  • Attrition
Citation (ISO format)
DUVOISIN, Aline et al. Recruitment and Attrition for Panel Surveys of Hard-to-reach Populations: Some Lessons from a Longitudinal Study on Undocumented Migrants. In: Field methods, 2023, p. 1525822X231210415. doi: 10.1177/1525822X231210415
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Identifiers
Journal ISSN1525-822X
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Technical informations

Creation09/11/2023 20:12:07
First validation17/11/2023 11:21:42
Update17/11/2023 11:21:42
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