Public Opinion Quarterly Advance Access published online on May 23, 2009
Public Opinion Quarterly, doi:10.1093/poq/nfp026
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Research Synthesis
Strategies for Surveys of American Indians
Address correspondence to Michael D. Larsen; e-mail: larsen{at}iastate.edu.
Although past researchers have sometimes labeled American Indians "hard-to-reach," a review of the literature identifies several available strategies for improving sampling and response rates for surveys of this population. After discussing various approaches to defining who is American Indian, this article summarizes the literature on challenges in conducting research in American Indian populations. The literature strongly points to the need for full and active partnerships between American Indian communities and outside researchers in order to ensure that the communities are respected, protected, and benefit from the research. Full and active partnerships also are needed to improve the quality of data collected in American Indian communities. Successful strategies used in U.S. Census Bureau enumeration efforts exemplify the recommendations for participatory research with American Indian communities.
BRIDGET LAVELLE is with the University of Michigan, 735 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-3091, USA. MICHAEL D. LARSEN is with the Iowa State University, 2625 N. Loop Drive, Ames, IA 50011, USA. CRAIG GUNDERSEN is with the University of Illinois, 324 Mumford Hall, 1301 West Gregory Dr., Urbana, IL 61801-3605, USA. Craig Gundersen's research in this paper is partially funded through grant FRS No. 302070 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service through the University of Arizona, American Indian Studies Program.