ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines several problems that are inherent in conducting research with hard-to-reach or hidden populations, including locating the population(s) of interest, recruiting them into research, eliciting accurate and credible information from them and assessing the veracity of their accounts. Each of these problems is examined using examples from research conducted by the author to discuss where our ideas about the nature and severity of the problem are accurate, and where they are not, and suggestions for addressing some of the problems based on previous experiences are offered. One conclusion that can be drawn from the various examples provided in the chapter is that social science has already developed many data collection tools that can be successfully employed, but many of the problems that researchers face in conducting research with these populations stem from our own preconceived ideas about what is possible.
Good data is often hard to find for social scientists that are concerned about crime and public health problems, and many are deeply sceptical about self-report data that is collected from stigmatised populations 142(especially if they are ‘captive’), like criminals, drug addicts or people with AIDS. It is widely believed that people that engage in highly stigmatised behaviour do not want to talk about it, and if they do, they often talk about it in ways that minimise their stigma, perhaps even denying that they ever did it. Yet these people – usually deemed hard-to-reach or hidden populations – are precisely those that are the most likely to be able to provide answers to the questions that preoccupy social scientists and, as such, we need to find reliable ways to find them, convince them to participate in our (often intrusive) research, elicit accurate and credible information from them, and assess the accuracy and veracity of their accounts. This chapter examines each of these problems using examples from research conducted by the author to discuss where our ideas about the nature and severity of the problem are accurate and where they are not, and it will offer suggestions for addressing some of the problems based on these previous experiences.
