What Do We Mean By a “Hard-to-reach†Population? Legitimacy Versus Precarity as Barriers to Access

Rachel Ellis

Sociological Methods & Research, 2023, vol. 52, issue 3, 1556-1586

Abstract: Numerous articles and textbooks advise qualitative researchers on accessing “hard-to-reach†or “hidden†populations. In this article, I compare two studies that I conducted with justice-involved women in the United States: a yearlong ethnography inside a state women’s prison and an interview study with formerly incarcerated women. Although these two populations are interconnected—and both are widely deemed hard-to-reach—the barriers to access differed. In the prison study, hard-to-reach reflected an issue of institutional legitimacy , in which researchers must demonstrate themselves and their proposed study as legible, appropriate, and worthy to organizational gatekeepers. In the reentry study, hard-to-reach reflected an issue of structural precarity , in which researchers must navigate the everyday vulnerabilities of research participants’ social position to ensure the study is inclusive and feasible. Juxtaposing these two experiences, I propose greater nuance to the term hard-to-reach such that researchers may proactively address institutional and structural barriers to access.

Keywords: barriers to access; ethnography; hard-to-reach; hidden populations; interviews; prisons; reentry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:somere:v:52:y:2023:i:3:p:1556-1586

DOI: 10.1177/0049124121995536

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