research on addiction

Objectives: Study of hidden populations such as Injection Drug Users (IDU) due to their exposing to high risk diseases and their roll in public health is very crucial. Conventional statistical methods for sampling these populations are not applicable because of the restrictions these populations are faced. Despite the introduction of respondent driven sampling as a successful method for sampling hidden populations, a limited number of studies using this method due to the lack of researchers’ knowledge.

Method: The main purpose of the current article is to study influential factors in managing and implementing respondent driven sampling method.

Results: Researchers should consider key points in designing coupons, defining amount and payment method of incentives, and preventing the irregular growth of the sample size for monitoring this sampling method.

Conclusions: Without taking into consideration the implementation and management, we can not expect to achieve representative samples from these populations by applying this sampling method.