Methods to Recruit Hard-to-Reach Groups: Comparing Two Chain Referral Sampling Methods of Recruiting Injecting Drug Users Across Nine Studies in Russia and Estonia

Evidence suggests rapid diffusion of injecting drug use and associated outbreaks of HIV among injecting drug users (IDUs) in the Russian Federation and Eastern Europe. There remains a need for research among non-treatment and community-recruited samples of IDUs to better estimate the dynamics of HIV transmission and to improve treatment and health services access. We compare two sampling methodologies “respondent-driven sampling” (RDS) and chain referral sampling using “indigenous field workers” (IFS) to investigate the relative effectiveness of RDS to reach more marginal and hard-to-reach groups and perhaps to include those with the riskiest behaviour around HIV transmission. We evaluate the relative efficiency of RDS to recruit a lower cost sample in comparison to IFS. We also provide a theoretical comparison of the two approaches. We draw upon nine community-recruited surveys of IDUs undertaken in the Russian Federation and Estonia between 2001 and 2005 that used either IFS or RDS. Sampling effects on the demographic composition and injecting risk behaviours of the samples generated are compared using multivariate analysis. Our findings suggest that RDS does not appear to recruit more marginalised sections of the IDU community nor those engaging in riskier injecting behaviours in comparison with IFS. RDS appears to have practical advantages over IFS in the implementation of fieldwork in terms of greater recruitment efficiency and safety of field workers, but at a greater cost. Further research is needed to assess how the practicalities of implementing RDS in the field compromises the requirements mandated by the theoretical guidelines of RDS for adjusting the sample estimates to obtain estimates of the wider IDU population

Information and analytical technologies in branding innovation development territory

Актуальность работы определяется возросшим интересом к брендингу территории, где инновационная сущность становится приоритетной в развитии. Необходимо создание эффективного инструментария брендинга территории. Цель работы: определение инструментария брендинга территории инновационного развития на основе аналитики. Методы: информационно-аналитические, анализ и синтез. Результаты: предложен мультипроектный подход, основанный на интегрированных технологиях, где определенные процессы, операции, методы и методики брендинга соотносятся с жизненным циклом бренда территории. Раскрыты подходы к использованию информационно-аналитических технологий в брендинге территории инновационного развития в рамках жизненного цикла бренда. В брендинге выделены этапы и подэтапы, определена их содержательная характеристика и приведены соответствующие методы, методики, процедуры, процессы, в которых как база используется аналитика и собственно информационно-аналитические технологии: информационные мониторинг, прогнозирование, диагностика и т. д.Nowadays the preservation of their own positions for the territories is conditioned by development of competitive brand accumulating a set of competitive advantages. The relevance of the article is determined by the increased interest in the sphere of territory branding, where the innovative essence becomes a priority of development. It is necessary to create effective tools of territory branding. The aim of the research deals with determination of tools of branding innovative territory development based on analytics. The research methods are information-analytical, analysis and synthesis. The basic results: The multi-project approach is proposed. It is based on integrated technologies in which certain processes, operations, methods and techniques of branding relate to brand territory lifecycle. The paper discloses the approaches to information and analytical technologies used in branding territory of innovative development within the life cycle of brand. The author highlights steps and substeps in branding, defines their significant characteristic and gives appropriate methods, techniques, procedures, processes, in which analytics and information and analytical technologies information monitoring, forecasting, diagnostics, etc (are used as a base)