Premium
Estimating the Prevalence of Hard‐to‐Reach Populations: The Illustration of Mark‐Recapture Methods in the Study of Homelessness
Author(s) -
Shaw Ian,
Bloor Michael,
Cormack Richard,
Williamson Howard
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
social policy and administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.972
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1467-9515
pISSN - 0144-5596
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9515.1996.tb00482.x
Subject(s) - mark and recapture , welfare , geography , field (mathematics) , demography , sociology , population , economics , mathematics , pure mathematics , market economy
This paper assesses the potential of mark‐recapture methods as a relatively powerful innovative research method for estimating the prevalence of “hard‐to‐reach”human populations in the social welfare field. We outline the development of mark‐recapture methods, illustrating some recent applications. The body of the paper reviews the main methodological and practical questions raised by the method. We suggest, by way of illustration, how it might be applied to estimating the prevalence of rough sleepers in a given geographical region.