Studying tiny, dispersed populations forces researchers into biased sampling strategies.

Evidence

A limitation of this study is the use of a convenience sample using a targeted and snowball sampling strategy, which affects the overall representativeness of the study sample. This recruitment strategy was used given that Muslims Americans account for 1.1% of the total U.S. population and a random sampling strategy would be challenging to implement (Mohamed, 2018). Although efforts were taken to minimize bias, the results may be biased in terms of underreporting or overreporting of discriminatory incidents. Finally, the small sample size did not allow for multigroup invariance testing, which would assess the generalizability of these instruments given the diversity of Muslim Americans. — Naheed Ahmed, Measurement of Perceived Interpersonal…, 112

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to broader methodological debates about hard-to-reach or stigmatized populations, where random sampling is often infeasible. — connects to: Study sampling may proxy for the heterogeneity that drives deliberation outcomes. — Didier Caluwaerts et al., Deliberation and Polarization: A…, 118
• QUESTION: How would multigroup invariance testing actually change the interpretation of these anti-Muslim discrimination scales across racial and nativity subgroups?