Abstract Objectives Respondent-Driven Sampling (RDS) is a variant of link-tracing, sampling technique for surveying hard-to-reach communities that takes advantage community members' social networks to reach potential participants. While the RDS mechanism and associated methods adjusting at analysis stage are well-documented in statistical sciences literature, methodological focus has largely be...

background : a detailed study of hidden and hard to reach populations in order to identify their characteristics is essential because they endanger the health of the society by their dangerous behaviors. however, sampling in these populations through conventional sampling methods is impossible due to reasons such as being hidden and lacking a precise frame. methods: in this article, applicable ...

Respondent driven sampling (RDS) is a network sampling technique typically employed for hard-to-reach populations (e.g. drug users, men who have sex with men, people with HIV). Similar to snowball sampling, initial seed respondents recruit additional respondents from their network of friends. The recruiting process repeats iteratively, thereby forming long referral chains. Unlike in snowball sa...

Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is a network-based technique for estimating traits in hard-to-reach populations, for example, the prevalence of HIV among drug injectors. In recent years RDS has been used in more than 120 studies in more than 20 countries and by leading public health organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States. Despite the widesp...