Example C: Using online respondent-driven detection for communicable disease control

Respondent-Driven Sampling in Online Social Networks

Abstract. Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is a commonly used method for acquiring data on hidden communities, i.e., those that lack unbiased sampling frames or face social stigmas that make their members unwilling to identify themselves. Obtaining accurate statistical data about such communities is important because, for instance, they often have different health burdens from the greater popul...

Using Online Respondent Driven Sampling for Vietnamese Youths' Alcohol Use and Associated Risk Factors

OBJECTIVES The average alcohol consumption per capita among Vietnamese adults has consistently increased. Although alcohol-related disorders have been extensively studied, there is a paucity of research shedding light on this issue among Internet users. The study aimed to examine the severity of alcohol-related disorders and other associated factors that might predispose individuals towards alc...

Tracking social contact networks with online respondent-driven detection: who recruits whom?

BACKGROUND Transmission of respiratory pathogens in a population depends on the contact network patterns of individuals. To accurately understand and explain epidemic behaviour information on contact networks is required, but only limited empirical data is available. Online respondent-driven detection can provide relevant epidemiological data on numbers of contact persons and dynamics of contac...

Acute Communicable Disease Control

Diagnostics for Respondent-driven Sampling.

Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is a widely used method for sampling from hard-to-reach human populations, especially populations at higher risk for HIV. Data are collected through peer-referral over social networks. RDS has proven practical for data collection in many difficult settings and is widely used. Inference from RDS data requires many strong assumptions because the sampling design is...