Mixed Method Approaches for Data Collection in Hard-to-reach Populations

Abstract

Vulnerable populations are often hard to reach. Ethnic or sexual minorities, people living at the margins of social, economic, educational or occupational systems and structures are frequently experiencing precariousness, dealing with unsure material and symbolic resources. However, those populations are most of the time concealed and unseen in big statistical surveys, precisely as they stand at the edges of main social groups. Therefore, it seems very worthwhile to develop specific tool to conduct surveys on those most vulnerable populations, and mixed methods approaches are particularly relevant for that purpose. In this chapter, we will mainly rely on the Musicians LIVES survey conducted between 2012 and 2016 on “ordinary musicians” (nor rich or famous) in French-speaking Switzerland. From the sampling method to the data collection, we crossed quantitative and qualitative approaches in order to get significant and accurate results on a very informal occupational space. The chapter will be enhanced by different example and cases from other surveys conducted within the NCCR LIVES over the last decade.