Snowball Sampling

Snowball sampling is a technique in which research participants solicit new participants for a test or

study. It is utilized when finding suitable volunteers is difficult. It's termed snowball sampling because

once started, the ball takes up additional "snow" along the way and becomes bigger and larger. This

sampling approach may be repeated indefinitely, much like a snowball growing in size (in this instance,

the sample size) until a researcher has enough data to evaluate and develop clear conclusions that can

assist an organization make educated choices. This sampling strategy is often employed when researchers

want to examine a community with people that are difficult to identify or contact.

Snowball sampling, also known as chain-referral sampling, is a non-probability sampling approach in

which the samples have uncommon characteristics. This is a sampling approach in which current

individuals recommend new subjects to be recruited for a research project. For example, if you are

researching the level of customer satisfaction among members of an elite country club, collecting primary

data sources will be extremely difficult unless a member of the club agrees to have a direct conversation

with you and provides contact information for the other members of the club.

This sampling strategy entails the main data source designating other possible data sources who will be

allowed to participate in the research investigations. The Snowball sampling approach is entirely reliant

on referrals, which is how a researcher generates a sample. The snowball sampling approach is often

employed when a population is unknown or uncommon, and it is difficult to choose persons to assemble

as study samples.

There are 2 stages to snowball sampling:

1. Determine prospective subjects from the population. Initially, just one or two topics are often
encountered.
2. Request that those subjects recruit others (and then request that those individuals recruit others).
Participants should be informed that they are not required to supply any more names.
Key Terms

• A sample consists of people selected from a target population (the group of interest) in order to

generalize about it. A smaller number of participants must serve as a representative sample since the

full population is sometimes too huge to deal with.

• Representative refers to the degree to which a sample resembles and reflects the features of a

researcher's target population (e.g., gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic level). Psychologists use a range

of selection strategies to choose a representative sample and prevent sampling bias (the

overrepresentation of one participant type in the sample).

• Generalizability refers to the amount to which their conclusions may be applied to the wider

population that their sample represents.

Limitations

 Bias is possible

Since current participants pick other members for the sample, it is probable that bias will occur. Initial

participants will have a significant influence on the remainder of the sample. Additionally, a well-

known and gregarious person is more likely to be hired than an introverted one. There is no way to

determine the accuracy of a snowball sample, which does not ensure representation. This strategy is

especially prone to sampling error. When utilizing this sample approach, researchers also risk

sampling bias. Initial subjects often pick somebody they know well. Due to this, it is likely that the

subjects would share similar qualities and characteristics; hence, it is probable that the sample

obtained by the researcher may represent merely a subset of the overall community.

 Difficult to determine sampling error

Snowball sampling is a non-probability sampling technique; hence researchers are unable to assess

sample error.
References

Simkus, J. (n.d.). Snowball Sampling: Definition, Method and Examples - Simply Psychology.

Www.Simplypsychology.Org. Retrieved June 7, 2022, from

https://www.simplypsychology.org/snowball-sampling.html

Z. (2021, November 17). Snowball Sampling: Definition + Examples. Statology.

https://www.statology.org/snowball-sampling/

Snowball Sampling: Definition, Advantages and Disadvantages. (2021, May 22).

Www.Statisticshowto.Com. Retrieved June 7, 2022, from

https://www.statisticshowto.com/probability-and-statistics/statistics-definitions/snowball-

sampling/