Summary: This study examined
feasibility and methodological utilities of respondent driven sampling (RDS)
for Korean immigrants. Authors conducted the Health and Life Study of Koreans
(HLSK), a Web-based RDS study targeting foreign-born Korean Americans. Through
chain referrals, n = 638 participated. Geographic coverage and estimates of
HLSK were compared to foreign-born Korean samples in the American Community
Survey and the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) as benchmarks.
Findings: Compared to the
benchmarks, HLSK fared well on the geographic coverage, household type and
size, employment and health insurance but over-captured those who were younger,
more recent immigrants, with higher education and with disability. Existing
RDS-specific estimators were largely ineffective.
RDS may serve as a cost-effective tool for recruiting recent
immigrants, a harder-to-recruit subgroup within minorities. However,
recruitment noncooperation posed operational challenges, a critical gap in the
literature. This leaves RDS yet to be a reliable methodology.