According to Dr George Veletsianos, the use of Snowball Sampling as a means of obtaining participants for a research study, can be a valuable and efficient way of identifying research participants with similar characteristics and of particular relevance to the research (2019).

Veletsianos describes snowball sampling as a process by which one research participant, will actually identify other potential participants to the researcher, for potential participation in a given study (2019). For instance, a participant who has been selected due to their occupation, might identify someone that they work with in the same occupation, and who the researcher might not have been aware of or had access to. One might ask if this always an appropriate or unbiased way of obtaining research participants, and while the short answer would be no, there are times when this sampling method makes perfect sense.

Depending on the actual goal of the research as articulated in the research question, snowball sampling can be an efficient way of targeting research participants with characteristics particularly relevant to the scope of the research. For example, if a research question was broadly stated as – how does geographical distance between an instructor and a learner impact the learning experience for a learner, then it would be reasonable to expect that the impact would be examined across a diverse and randomized sample of learners. However, if the research question was more specifically defined as –  how does geographical distance between an instructor and a learner impact the learning experience of first-year, aboriginal undergrad students in Alberta, then the snowball sampling method might be warranted. A researcher who set out to examine this research question, might find the snowball sampling method a more efficient way of identifying participants with the characteristics of being aboriginal, and in an undergrad program, than trying to discern which undergrad students in Alberta fit this description on their own. The snowball method in this instance, might also assist in reducing the amount of erroneous information that the researcher would have to wade through.

Reference

Veletsianos, G. (2019). Questions about Research for George Veletsianos [Audio recording]. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yzG3Sqo0wImXN0tUf9dcjXODISiSYt9gH8_gJnMC_hY/edit