Volume 38 - Article 36 | Pages 1017–1058  

Collecting data from migrants in Ghana: Lessons learned using respondent-driven sampling

By Samantha R. Lattof

Abstract

Background: Policymakers and program implementers require high-quality data on migrants and migration in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC); however, a shortage of high-quality data exists in these settings. Sampling migrant populations requires better techniques. Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) may be one such solution.

Objective: Using Ghana as a case study, the objectives of this paper are to: 1) assess RDS recruitment productivity, network size, and ties of internal migrants; 2) test for homophily; and 3) detail the successes of and challenges to implementing RDS in Ghana and how these lessons can be applied to migrant populations in other LMIC settings.

Methods: This study used RDS to sample 625 rural–urban female migrants working as market porters (kayayei) in Accra, Ghana.

Results: This study generated the most comprehensive data set on kayayei to date. Network size increases as participants become more educated and migrate more often to Accra. Ethnic group membership is an important determinant of recruitment, with certain groups preferring to recruit from within. Employing members of the kayayei population to collect data built crucial trust.

Conclusions: Whilst RDS is not a one-size-fits-all solution for sampling hard-to-reach migrants in LMIC, it can be a powerful tool to uncover and to recruit hard-to-reach migrant populations. In countries with multiple ethnolinguistic groups, recruiting a migrant population with greater ethnolinguistic overlap may facilitate quicker equilibrium.

Contribution: This study expands the evidence base on use of RDS among migrant populations in LMIC and provides lessons learned to assist other researchers implementing RDS in LMIC settings.

Author's Affiliation

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Contemporary female migration in Ghana: Analyses of the 2000 and 2010 Censuses
Volume 39 - Article 44

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Measuring short-term mobility patterns in North America using Facebook advertising data, with an application to adjusting COVID-19 mortality rates
Volume 50 - Article 10    | Keywords: COVID-19, data collection, Facebook, mortality, North America, short-term mobility

Fertility decline, changes in age structure, and the potential for demographic dividends: A global analysis
Volume 50 - Article 9    | Keywords: age structure, demographic dividend, demographic transition, fertility, migration, population momentum, working-age population

War and mobility: Using Yandex web searches to characterize intentions to leave Russia after its invasion of Ukraine
Volume 50 - Article 8    | Keywords: Brain drain, migration, Russia, search trends, Ukraine, Yandex

How do environmental stressors influence migration? A meta-regression analysis of environmental migration literature
Volume 50 - Article 2    | Keywords: environmental, instrumental variables, meta analysis, migration, partial correlation coefficient, weighted regression

The dynamic role of household structure on under-5 mortality in southern and eastern sub-Saharan Africa
Volume 49 - Article 11    | Keywords: child mortality, Health and Demographic Surveillance System, household structure, sub-Saharan Africa

Cited References: 64

Download to Citation Manager

Volume
Page
Volume
Article ID