Methodological challenges: comparing different samples and sampling strategies
Abstract
The ALAMA-Nightlife longitudinal survey used social media to recruit an online sample of young adults who engage with the European nightlife scene (n=6,155). An offline sample was also recruited at clubs and festivals in the UK, Netherlands, Belgium and Italy using a random intercept method (n=3,570). Offline participants completed a short on-the-spot questionnaire asking for age, gender, last 12 month attendance at nightlife venues and drug use. Online participants answered the same questions as part of the baseline survey.
We compared both samples’ demographic traits, nightlife engagement and drug use to assess whether different recruitment methods reach different populations. The findings, to be presented at the conference, illustrate the importance of comparing online sampling with the target population of interest in European studies of nightlife behaviour and drug use.