Surveys of hard to reach populations (rare, no known sampling frames) have been, for some years, the object of methodological reflection. Various methods aiming at the production of an 'extrapolable' sample of these populations have been proposed: time-space sampling (TSS) or time-location sampling (TLS), respondent driven sampling (RDS), or the 'capturerecapture' method. After defining what a hard-to reach-population is, this article provides an outline of these various approaches before going on to briefly consider the papers contained in this special issue.
Data on the homeless in France were obtained from two surveys conducted in Paris and a recent national survey. What emerges from these surveys of homeless people is their social proximity to other people who are living in conditions of poverty. The findings draw attention to the diversity of the individuals involved. Both contextual factors (e.g., industrial restructuring) and individual handicaps (e.g., poor education and living conditions during childhood) must be taken into account in order to explain why some people are at greater risk than others of losing their home. The findings suggest that preventive policy must not just focus on keeping people in their homes, but also contribute to the more general struggle against all aspects of poverty.The increase in the visibility of homeless people in France occurred during the 1980s in a context of economic crisis and growing insecurity due to unemployment, at a time when family bonds were seen as weakening. These conditions coincided with a decrease in the stock of privately owned low quality but inexpensive housing, much of which was demolished or renovated while original inhabitants were later replaced by better-off residents. Despite the increased concern with housing and homelessness, when the research program on homelessness started at the beginning of the 1990s in our research institute, French National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED), there had been no genuinely representative survey of the homeless population in France, either at a national or local level.INED's research on the homeless addresses methodological issues and provides insights into the living conditions and trajectories of the homeless. It is based on two quantitative surveys, as well as a number of qualitative studies. It comprises in-depth interviews of homeless people and service providers: our first survey conducted in Paris in 1995 with a sample of 591 persons aged 18 and over (Marpsat & Firdion, 1996), a second survey, conducted in Paris and the nearest suburbs
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