IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/dem/demres/v25y2011i3.html

Sampling international migrants with origin-based snowballing method: New evidence on biases and limitations

Author

Listed:
  • Cris Beauchemin

    (Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED))

  • Amparo González-Ferrer

    (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC))

Abstract

This paper provides a methodological assessment of the advantages and drawbacks of the origin-based snowballing technique as a reliable method to construct representative samples of international migrants in destination areas. Using data from the MAFE-Senegal Project, our results indicate that this is a very risky method in terms of quantitative success. Besides, it implies some clear selection biases: it over-represents migrants more strongly connected to their home country, and it tends to overestimate both poverty in households at origin and the influence of previous migration experiences of social networks on individuals’ out-migration.

Suggested Citation

  • Cris Beauchemin & Amparo González-Ferrer, 2011. "Sampling international migrants with origin-based snowballing method: New evidence on biases and limitations," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 25(3), pages 103-134.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:25:y:2011:i:3
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2011.25.3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol25/3/25-3.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4054/DemRes.2011.25.3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stillman, Steven & McKenzie, David & Gibson, John, 2009. "Migration and mental health: Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 677-687, May.
    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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David McKenzie, 2012. "Learning about migration through experiments," RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series 1207, ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin).
    2. Jung, Dain & Kwak, Do Won & Tang, Kam Ki & Yazbeck, Myra, 2025. "Shared lives, shared stress: Witnessing and spillover effects in spousal mental health interactions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    3. Trish Tupou & Jemaima Tiatia-Siau & Christina Newport & Fiona Langridge & Suelaki Tiatia, 2023. "Is the Concept of Solastalgia Meaningful to Pacific Communities Experiencing Mental Health Distress Due to Climate Change? An Initial Exploration," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(22), pages 1-11, November.
    4. Saavedra Facusse,Trinidad Berenice & Inchauste Comboni,Maria Gabriela, 2023. "Why Do People Move across State Borders ? Evidence from Mexico," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10493, The World Bank.
    5. Meng, Xin & Xue, Sen, 2017. "Social Networks and Mental Health Problems: Evidence from Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China," IZA Discussion Papers 10481, IZA Network @ LISER.
    6. Hongyun Fu & Mark VanLandingham, 2012. "Mental Health Consequences of International Migration for Vietnamese Americans and the Mediating Effects of Physical Health and Social Networks: Results From a Natural Experiment Approach," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(2), pages 393-424, May.
    7. Mishra, Soumya, 2025. "Migrant capital: The role of internal migrants in mediating agrarian-industrial transformation in Northern India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    8. Sarah Baird & Jacobus de Hoop & Berk Özler, 2013. "Income Shocks and Adolescent Mental Health," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 48(2), pages 370-403.
    9. Stillman, Steven & Gibson, John & McKenzie, David & Rohorua, Halahingano, 2015. "Miserable Migrants? Natural Experiment Evidence on International Migration and Objective and Subjective Well-Being," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 79-93.
    10. Zaiceva, A. & Zimmermann, K.F., 2016. "Migration and the Demographic Shift," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 119-177, Elsevier.
    11. Chen, Yuanyuan & Dong, Caiting & Yu, Yangcheng, 2026. "Do social skills of head teachers affect the mental health of students?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    12. Isabelle Sin & Judd Ormsby, 2019. "The settlement experience of Pacific migrants in New Zealand: Insights from LISNZ and the IDI," Motu Working Papers 19_02, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    13. John Gibson & Steven Stillman & David McKenzie & Halahingano Rohorua, 2013. "Natural Experiment Evidence On The Effect Of Migration On Blood Pressure And Hypertension," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(6), pages 655-672, June.
    14. John Gibson & Riccardo Scarpa & Halahingano Rohorua, 2013. "Respiratory Health of Pacific Island Immigrants and Preferences for Indoor Air Quality Determinants in New Zealand," Working Papers in Economics 13/09, University of Waikato.
    15. Baldwin, Kate & Bhavnani, Rikhil R., 2013. "Ancillary Experiments: Opportunities and Challenges," WIDER Working Paper Series 024, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    16. John Gibson & David McKenzie & Halahingano Rohorua & Steven Stillman, 2018. "The Long-term Impacts of International Migration: Evidence from a Lottery," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 32(1), pages 127-147.
    17. Francesco Fasani, 2015. "Understanding the Role of Immigrants’ Legal Status: Evidence from Policy Experiments," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 61(3-4), pages 722-763.
    18. John Gibson & David McKenzie & Bilal Zia, 2014. "The Impact of Financial Literacy Training for Migrants," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 28(1), pages 130-161.
    19. Xin Meng & Sen Xue, 2020. "Social networks and mental health outcomes: Chinese rural–urban migrant experience," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 155-195, January.
    20. Christian Dustmann & Francesco Fasani & Biagio Speciale, 2017. "Illegal Migration and Consumption Behavior of Immigrant Households," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 15(3), pages 654-691.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:25:y:2011:i:3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Editorial Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.