Open AccessAddressing the Challenges of Research With Small Populations
Author(s) -
Diane M. Korngiebel,
Maile Taualii,
Ralph Forquera,
Raymond Harris,
Dedra Buchwald
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2015.302783
Subject(s) - indigenous , public health , sample (material) , data science , health equity , computer science , environmental health , medicine , ecology , chemistry , nursing , chromatography , biology
Public health policy relies on accurate data, which are often unavailable for small populations, especially indigenous groups. Yet these groups have some of the worst health disparities in the United States, making it an ethical imperative to explore creative solutions to the problem of insufficient data. We discuss the limits of widely applied methods of data aggregation and propose a mixed-methods approach to data borrowing as a way to augment sample sizes. In this approach, community partners assist in selecting related populations that make suitable "neighbors" to enlarge the data pool. The result will be data that are substantial, accurate, and relevant to the needs of small populations, especially for health-related policy and decision-making at all levels.