Snowball Sampling - What Is Snowball Sampling?

What Is Snowball Sampling?

Snowball sampling uses a small pool of initial informants to nominate, through their social networks, other participants who meet the eligibility criteria and could potentially contribute to a specific study. The term “snowball sampling” reflects an analogy to a snowball increasing in size as it rolls downhill

Snowball Sampling is a method used to obtain research and knowledge, from extended associations, through previous acquaintances, “Snowball sampling uses recommendations to find people with the specific range of skills that has been determined as being useful.” An individual or a group receives information from different places through a mutual intermediary. This is referred to metaphorically as snowball sampling because as more relationships are built through mutual association, more connections can be made through those new relationships and a plethora of information can be shared and collected, much like a snowball that rolls and increases in size as it collects more snow. Snowball sampling is a useful tool for building networks and increasing the number of participants. However, the success of this technique depends greatly on the initial contacts and connections made. Thus it is important to correlate with those that are popular and honorable to create more opportunities to grow, but also to create a credible and dependable reputation.