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Introduction We cannot ignore the importance of virtual relationships on people lives. Everyday an amount of activities take place in this “online” reality where individuals express thoughts, intentions and opinions about events that happen in their “real” world. In fact, in many activities such as commerce, banking, services, firm strategies and politics, the Internet occupies a central role. Moreover, different disciplines have incorporated the use of these information technologies in their practices, for example in areas such as learning (Yardi, 2007), health, banking (Birch and Young,
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Frequently this technique is associated with the study of vulnerable or stigmatised population which is reluctant to participate in studies using traditional research methods. Although initial seeds in snowball sampling are in theory randomly chosen, it is difficult to carry out in practice and they are selected via a convenience sampling method. Magnani et al. (2005) pointed that the sample composition is influenced by the choice of initial seeds. Thus, those samples tend to be biased towards more cooperative individuals or those who have a large personal network. According to the limitations observed in the traditional snowball method, the targeted sampling includes an initial ethnographic assessment in order to identify the networks that might exist in a given population. Subgroups are then treated as a cluster sample and reduce the coverage bias and therefore increase the representativeness. In order to improve the external validity of non-probabilistic samples, two methods were developed to approach them to a probabilistic sample. The time space sampling tends to identify accurate subjects in certain types of locations. Researchers enumerate a probability sample of sites, define the time of meeting and the data …show more content…
and Mathur, A. (2005), “The value of online surveys”, Internet Research, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 195-219. Fricker, R. and Schonlau, M. (2002), “Advantages and disadvantages of Internet research surveys: evidence from the literature”, Field Methods, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 347-67. Fricker, S., Galesic, M., Torangeau, R. and Yan, T. (2005), “An experimental comparison of web and telephone surveys”, Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 69 No. 3, pp. 370-973. Groves, R.M., Presser, S. and Dipko, S. (2004), “The role of topic interest in survey participation decisions”, Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 68 No. 1, pp. 2-31. Heckathorn, D. (1997), “Respondent-driven sampling: a new approach to the study of hidden populations”, Social Problems, Vol. 44 No. 2, pp. 174-99. Ilieva, J., Baron, S. and Healey, N.M. (2002), “Online surveys in marketing research: pros and cons”, International Journal of Market Research, Vol. 44 No. 3, pp. 361-76, available at: http://elibrary.ru /item.asp?id¼6241312 (accessed 26 July 2011). Johnston, L. and Sabin, K. (2010), “Sampling hard-to-reach populations with respondent driven sampling”, Methodological Innovations Online, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 38-48. Koo, M. and Skinner, H. (2005), “Challenges of Internet recruitment: a case study with disappointing results”, Journal of Medical Internet Research, Vol. 7 No. 1, available at: www.jmir.org/2005/1/e6/ (accessed 8 May 2011). Kushin, M. and Kitchener, K. (2009), “Getting political on social network sites: exploring
Frequently this technique is associated with the study of vulnerable or stigmatised population which is reluctant to participate in studies using traditional research methods. Although initial seeds in snowball sampling are in theory randomly chosen, it is difficult to carry out in practice and they are selected via a convenience sampling method. Magnani et al. (2005) pointed that the sample composition is influenced by the choice of initial seeds. Thus, those samples tend to be biased towards more cooperative individuals or those who have a large personal network. According to the limitations observed in the traditional snowball method, the targeted sampling includes an initial ethnographic assessment in order to identify the networks that might exist in a given population. Subgroups are then treated as a cluster sample and reduce the coverage bias and therefore increase the representativeness. In order to improve the external validity of non-probabilistic samples, two methods were developed to approach them to a probabilistic sample. The time space sampling tends to identify accurate subjects in certain types of locations. Researchers enumerate a probability sample of sites, define the time of meeting and the data …show more content…
and Mathur, A. (2005), “The value of online surveys”, Internet Research, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 195-219. Fricker, R. and Schonlau, M. (2002), “Advantages and disadvantages of Internet research surveys: evidence from the literature”, Field Methods, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 347-67. Fricker, S., Galesic, M., Torangeau, R. and Yan, T. (2005), “An experimental comparison of web and telephone surveys”, Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 69 No. 3, pp. 370-973. Groves, R.M., Presser, S. and Dipko, S. (2004), “The role of topic interest in survey participation decisions”, Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 68 No. 1, pp. 2-31. Heckathorn, D. (1997), “Respondent-driven sampling: a new approach to the study of hidden populations”, Social Problems, Vol. 44 No. 2, pp. 174-99. Ilieva, J., Baron, S. and Healey, N.M. (2002), “Online surveys in marketing research: pros and cons”, International Journal of Market Research, Vol. 44 No. 3, pp. 361-76, available at: http://elibrary.ru /item.asp?id¼6241312 (accessed 26 July 2011). Johnston, L. and Sabin, K. (2010), “Sampling hard-to-reach populations with respondent driven sampling”, Methodological Innovations Online, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 38-48. Koo, M. and Skinner, H. (2005), “Challenges of Internet recruitment: a case study with disappointing results”, Journal of Medical Internet Research, Vol. 7 No. 1, available at: www.jmir.org/2005/1/e6/ (accessed 8 May 2011). Kushin, M. and Kitchener, K. (2009), “Getting political on social network sites: exploring