เปรียบเทียบวิธี

	การสุ่มตัวอย่างแบบลูกบอลหิมะถ่วงน้ำหนัก	Snowball Sampling
สาขาวิชา	ระเบียบวิธีสำรวจ	ระเบียบวิธีสำรวจ
ตระกูล	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
ปีกำเนิด	1997	1961
ผู้ริเริ่ม	Douglas D. Heckathorn (formal probability-weighted variant)	Leo A. Goodman
ประเภท	Probability-adjusted chain-referral sampling	Non-probability sampling technique
แหล่งต้นตำรับ	Heckathorn, D. D. (1997). Respondent-driven sampling: A new approach to the study of hidden populations. Social Problems, 44(2), 174–199.	Goodman, L. A. (1961). Snowball sampling. Annals of Mathematical Statistics, 32(1), 148–170.
ชื่อเรียกอื่น	weight-adjusted chain-referral sampling, probability-weighted snowball sampling, WSS, weighted referral sampling	chain-referral sampling, network sampling, respondent-driven sampling, referral sampling
ที่เกี่ยวข้อง	5	3
สรุป	Weighted snowball sampling is a chain-referral technique in which participants recruit peers from a hidden or hard-to-reach population, and differential inclusion probabilities are estimated and corrected through statistical weights. Unlike basic snowball sampling, the weighting step allows approximately unbiased population estimates, bridging the gap between convenience-driven recruitment and probability-based inference.	Snowball sampling is a non-probability recruitment technique in which initial participants (seeds) refer the researcher to others who meet the study criteria, and those referrals in turn refer further participants. The sample grows incrementally — like a rolling snowball — until the required size or theoretical saturation is reached. It is the method of choice when a target population has no accessible sampling frame, such as undocumented migrants, illicit drug users, survivors of stigmatised experiences, or members of closed professional networks.