Hidden population size estimation from respondent-driven sampling: a network approach.

ABSTRACT: Estimating the size of stigmatized, hidden, or hard-to-reach populations is a major problem in epidemiology, demography, and public health research. Capture-recapture and multiplier methods are standard tools for inference of hidden population sizes, but they require random sampling of target population members, which is rarely possible. Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is a survey method for hidden populations that relies on social link tracing. The RDS recruitment process is designed to spread through the social network connecting members of the target population. In this paper, we show how to use network data revealed by RDS to estimate hidden population size. The key insight is that the recruitment chain, timing of recruitments, and network degrees of recruited subjects provide informa

SUBMITTER: Crawford FW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6392194 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature