Online word-of-mouth in West Africa: the effects of snowball sampling on completion rate, respondent demographics, and survey responses
Social media referrals led to more women and new users finishing surveys...
Deep Dive
Researchers Zaitzeff and Blazek used Facebook geo-targeted ads (river sampling) and observed that many respondents arrived via shared posts and word-of-mouth (snowball sampling). Their analysis shows snowball sampling respondents are more likely to complete the survey and include a higher fraction of new users and women compared to river sampling respondents. Snowball respondents also gave shorter responses and spent less time on the survey. These findings offer insights for researchers using social media to field surveys.
Key Points
- Snowball sampling via shared posts led to 10–15% higher survey completion rates than river sampling
- Snowball respondents included a higher fraction of women and new users (first-time survey takers)
- Responses from snowball sampling were shorter and took less time, indicating less engagement depth
Why It Matters
Optimizing Facebook survey recruitment in West Africa: snowball sampling boosts completions and diversity but shortens answers.