Date of Award
2018
Document Type
Open Access Dissertation
Department
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Sub-Department
The Norman J. Arnold School of Public Health
First Advisor
Melinda Forthofer
Abstract
Sexual minority identified (SMI) women have an amplified risk for risky health behaviors and chronic health conditions. Current research on mechanisms related to health disparities in SMI women is limited. Research targeting SMI women has relied on small, convenience samples to address health disparities. Due to the nature of this population, probability sampling methods are ineffective and inefficient and cost prohibitive. The purpose of this dissertation was threefold. First, we examined the current state of literature to gain insight on prevalent sampling strategies used to access SMI women for health-related research. Second, we compared the efficacy of two sampling strategies, convenience sampling and respondent-driven sampling, for recruiting SMI women for a health survey. Finally, we examined the prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors and associations with minority stressors.
We found that the majority of recent health studies have used non-probability, convenience sampling techniques to reach sexual minority identified women. This finding supported our second aim, examining the efficacy of respondent-driven sampling for recruiting SMI women for health research. Unfortunately, we had limited success garnering a sufficient sample size using respondent-driven sampling. The shortcomings we experienced using respondent-driven sampling were likely due to modifications made to the sampling method. Finally, we did not observe any associations between cardiometabolic risk factors and minority stressors in this sample of sexual minority identified women. Low prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors and homogeneity of the sample likely contributed to the lack of observable associations. Future research among SMI women should focus on improving sampling methodology, intentionally working towards reaching a more diverse sample of women.
Rights
© 2018, Sarah M. Piperato
Recommended Citation
Piperato, S. M.(2018). Comparative Effectiveness of Conventional and Novel Sampling Methods for the Recruitment of Sexual Minority Identified Women. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/4800