Womanism and Snowball Sampling: Engaging Marginalized Populations in Holistic Research

There exists a need for research methods that assist researchers in engaging with marginalized groups in ways that are more natural and holistic for the members of those groups (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Vaz, 1997). Robert Guthrie (2004) in his book, Even the Rat Was White: The History of Psychology, provides a review of the historical research in the field of psychology in which he points to the inherent racial bias that privileged the White male experience in most of the psychological research. Guthrie's analysis showed that the White experience was valued and accepted as the normal standard, thus marginalizing and labeling as abnormal any experience that did not adhere to White standards. This type of privileging of the White experience in research is not limited to psychology. Many social justice researchers, with theoretical groundings in womanist, feminist and critical race traditions, have criticized "the existing literature for its lack of attention to the needs and issues of populations currently marginalized in society" due to a failure to recognize the intersection of identity factors such as race, class, gender, sexual orientation and religion (Fassinger & Morrow, 2013, pp. 69-70). An Anglocentric approach neglects to take into account the methods that feel most natural to women, people of color, and other marginalized populations. (Borum, 2005; Denzin, Lincoln, & Smith, 2008; Solorzano & Yosso, 2002; Taylor, 1998; Vaz 1997). A critique of such limited research practices has led many scholars to begin inquiries into systemic practices of inequality and oppression even within the research methods themselves (Lyons & Bike, 2013; Stanley, 2013). And "from these critiques has emerged a greater scholarly focus on investigating the effects of systematic forms of inequity and oppression, and a concurrent desire to empower marginalized groups through socially just research practices" (Fassinger & Morrow, 2013, p. 69-70). Qualitative research methods provide for more opportunities to engage with marginalized groups in holistic research than do quantitative methods (Denzin, Lincoln, & Smith, 2008; Lindsay-Dennis, 2011; Miller & Treitel, 1991). Black womanist researchers, whose research is rooted in Black womanist and feminist praxis, utilize research methods like "storytelling, narrative, voice, autoethnography, and phenomenology" to enable the creation of "a theoretical and methodological space for traditionally silenced and marginalized groups to critique social institutions that perpetuate inequality" (Pratt-Clarke, 2012, p. 84). Within the qualitative toolbox, snowball sampling provides one such way for researchers to study marginalized populations by harnessing the power of social networking and personal connections, which allows for the more thorough analysis of individuals and groups that may otherwise remain inaccessible. The purpose of this article is to contribute to the existing literature about the use of snowball sampling in qualitative research studies that seek to understand the experiences of marginalized groups. The article begins with a review of the history of snowball sampling followed by a discussion of snowball sampling as it pertains to qualitative research methods. Next, an example is provided of a particular womanist research study, conducted by one of the article authors, that employed snowball sampling techniques. Finally, the article concludes with critical reflections of the use of this sampling technique as a tool to access "hidden" and marginalized populations. The History of Snowball Sampling Traditionally, snowball sampling has been employed as a "solution to overcome problems of data sampling in the study of hidden populations" (as cited in Faugier & Sargeant, 1997, p. 792). This strategy has been used since 1958 (Coleman). But despite its role in qualitative research and its continued use, there has been a general lack of description of the work involved in snowball sampling--a lack that "led to the impression that all that was required to sample difficult-to-reach populations was to start the ball rolling with one contact, then sit back and watch the sample pile up" (Faugier & Sargeant, 1997, p. …