Invisible, Hidden, Vulnerable, and Closed Populations and Data
Collection: Issues, Challenges, and Strategies
Roddrick Colvin
City University of New York
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Department of Public Management

Introduction
1. Agenda
2. Research focus
3. Research populations

Introduction
1. Agenda
1. discussion of terminology
2. typology of concept
3. strategies and methods
4. case study
2. Research focus
3. Research populations

1. Agenda
2. Research focus
1. populations and public service delivery
1. critical incidents
2. emergency management
3. Research populations

Introduction
1. Agenda
2. Research focus
3. Research populations
1. LGBT public employees
2. transgender workers
3. lesbian and gay police officers

Terminology
In the context of public management, we are often interested in populations are who are difficult to
connect to public goods and services.
There is a lack of clarity about who is difficult to connect to public goods and services.
Hidden, Vulnerable, Invisible, Closed
In the literature, these terms are employed
inconsistently.

Terminology
Disadvantaged or disenfranchised groups (Lambert
& Wiebel 1998)
– Examples: ethnic people, gay and lesbian people, or homeless people
People who do not wish to be found or contacted
(Brackertz 2007)
– Examples: illicit drug users or gang members

Terminology
People who feel they cannot comfortably or safely access goods or services (Jones 2010)
- Example: migrant workers
Persons subject to exploitation due to inequities in culture and reinforced social norms (Israel
2008)
– Examples: sex workers, MSM, injection drug users

Broader segments of the population (Jones &
Newburn 2001)
– Examples: old or young people or people with disabilities
Populations who are not identified or included in data collection or service delivery plans
(Cruikshank 1991)
– Examples: elderly, casual drug users, mental health recipients

Those populations who slip through the net, and may be service resistant (Doherty et al.
2004)
– Examples: seniors who qualify for additional services, ESL populations
Those who actively seek to conceal their group identity (Duncan et al. 2003)
– Examples: wealthy or extremists

Populations have been called:
Obstinate
Recalcitrant
Chronically uninformed
Disadvantaged
Have-not
Illiterate
Multifunctional
Information poor
(Freimuth and Mettger 1990)

Origins and Usage
‘hard to reach’
Emerges from medical and health research where
‘hard to reach’ often appears in relation to the ability of health services to reach out to certain groups who are difficult to contact (or difficult to influence using existing techniques).
(Burhansstipanov & Krebs 2005)

Origins and Usage
‘hard to reach’
Social marketing: to affect change in behavior using marketing tools and techniques adopted from the private sector (Walsh 1993).
Social marketing is a consumer focused approach that believes nobody is impossible to reach; it just depends on the approach taken.

From Populations to Characteristics
Young
Old
Rural
People with disabilities
Racial or ethical groups
Singles
Drug users
Former drug users
Militias
Prostitutes

From Populations to Characteristics
Youth gangs
Lesbians
Lesbian nurses
Gay men
Gay police officers
Lesbian police officers
Wealthy
Young trust funders
Victims of domestic violence

From Populations to Characteristics
Sexually active teens
MSM
Undocumented workers
Food pantry users
Uninsured people
Society members
...

From Populations to Characteristics
(Typology)
The best research uses characteristics and attributes as a basic landscape (Jones and Newburn 2001)
The typology and characteristics are important because it can help us think about and better understand the best approaches to gathering data
and/or understanding potential challenges to hard to reach populations.

Characteristics/Attributes
Demography
Cultural
Behavioral
Attitudinal
Administrative

Demographics

Cultural

Behavioral

Attitudinal

Administrative

Methodologies and Strategies for Data
Collection
Qualitative Approach
Snowball Sampling
A technique for finding research subjects. One subject gives the researcher the name of another subject, who in turn provides the name of a third, and so on
(Vogt 1999).
Highly qualitative and exploratory studies call for a purposive non-probability sampling design, which is not after the representativeness of samples.

Snowball Sampling
The snowballing sampling method is akin to the opportunity sampling technique, the
chaining sampling technique and the referral
sampling technique (referred informants).
All forms of convenience sampling

Methodologies and Strategies for Data
Collection
Although they violate the principles of sampling, the use of snowball strategies provides a means of accessing ‘hard to reach’ populations.

Methodologies and Strategies for Data
Collection
Snowball sampling has improved (aided by advancements in technology and process) as a technique and the literature contains evidence of a trend toward more sophisticated methods of sampling frame and error estimation.

Angles on Snowball Sampling
Facility-based
Time-location
Targeted
Response Driven

Recruiting population members from a variety of facilities frequented by members. Also know as institution-based.

Time-location sampling randomly selects venues as proxies for randomly selecting population members.

Targeted sampling extends the ideas of snowball sampling to include an initial ethnographic assessment aimed at identifying the various networks or subgroups that might exist in a given setting.

Network-based sampling technique to overcome the bias of traditional convenience samples by using mathematical models that weights the sample to compensate for the fact that the sample was collected in a non-random way. This approach includes an estimate of sample size.

Methodologies and Strategies for Data
Collection
Snowball samples have a number of deficiencies
Problems of representativeness
Finding respondents and initiating ‘chain referral’
Engaging respondents as informal research assistants

Lesbian and Gay Police Officers as a
Case Study
Shared Perceptions about the Workplace
Demographics about the Officers
Interested in 'out' and 'closed' Officers
–
Demographic, Cultural, Attitudinal Challenges

Lesbian and Gay Police Officers as a
Case Study
2007 Study
USA
Survey
Professional Association
Annual Conference
66 respondents
2009 Study
UK
Online Survey
Profession Association
Extensive Listserve
267 respondents

Lesbian and Gay Police Officers as a
Case Study
2010-11 Study
UK
Key Interviews (GLOs)
[institution based]
Online Survey
Profession Association/GLOs
Geographic Representation
Goal: 43 Policing Units Represented

Reaching Lesbian and Gay
Police Officers
For this hard to reach population …
Creditability matters
Associations members as sampling populations
Collaboration matters
Methods and technology matters

Conclusion
Consideration of 'hard to reach' common in public service delivery and emergency management
Some communities are more difficult than others
Few mechanisms for the truly 'invisible'
Snowballing and social networks help tremendously

References
If you would like a list of references and additional sources, contact me at: rcolvin@jjay.cuny.edu