Purpose - The aim of this paper is to present a sampling method using virtual networks to study "hard-to-reach" populations. In the ambit of social research, the use of new technologies is still questioned because the selection bias is an obstacle to carry on scientific research on the Internet....

The aim of this paper is to present a sampling method using virtual networks to study "hard-to-reach" populations. In the ambit of social research is still questioned the use of technologies. That is, the existence of representativeness bias and selection bias are obstacles to carry on...

In many areas of research, practical issues associated with sampling and data collection are of real concern to researchers. One of the most important methodological issues is the accessibility to the population, both in terms of the willingness to participate of the individuals and the...

El artículo presenta una experiencia de aplicación de muestreo virtual y métodos mixtos en el estudio de poblaciones ocultas, a partir del análisis del empresariado inmigrante argentino, utilizando como fuentes de información los grupos virtuales (en Facebook) que funcionan como...