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How Representative Are Snowball Samples? Using the Ethnosurvey to Study Guatemala-U.S. Migration

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  • David P. Lindstrom

Abstract

This analysis draws on binational data from an ethnosurvey conducted in Guatemala and in the United States in Providence, Rhode Island, to develop a refinement of the weighting scheme that the Mexican Migration Project (MMP) uses. The alternative weighting procedure distinguishes between temporary and settled migrants by using a question on household location in the Guatemala questionnaire that is not used in the MMP. Demographic characteristics and integration experiences of the most recent U.S. trip are used to assess the composition and representativeness of the U.S. sample. Using a composite index of migrant integration to compare the impact of alternative U.S. sample weights on point estimates, I find that although the U.S. sample is broadly representative across a range of background characteristics, the MMP sample weighting procedure biases estimates of migrant integration downward.

Suggested Citation

  • David P. Lindstrom, 2016. "How Representative Are Snowball Samples? Using the Ethnosurvey to Study Guatemala-U.S. Migration," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 666(1), pages 64-76, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:666:y:2016:i:1:p:64-76
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716216646568
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kenneth Hill & Rebeca Wong, 2005. "Mexico–US Migration: Views from Both Sides of the Border," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 31(1), pages 1-18, March.
    2. David J. McKenzie & Johan Mistiaen, 2009. "Surveying migrant households: a comparison of census‐based, snowball and intercept point surveys," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 172(2), pages 339-360, April.
    3. Michael Rendall & Peter Brownell & Sarah Kups, 2011. "Declining Return Migration From the United States to Mexico in the Late-2000s Recession: A Research Note," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(3), pages 1049-1058, August.
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