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Health Education Research Advance Access published online on October 19, 2009
Health Education Research, doi:10.1093/her/cyp062
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Balancing rigor against the inherent limitations of investigating hard-to-reach populations

Richard A. Crosby1,*, Laura F. Salazar2,3, Ralph J. DiClemente25 and Delia L. Lang2,3

1 College of Public Health at the University of Kentucky, 121 Washington Avenue, Lexington, KY 40506-0003, USA
2 Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA, USA
3 Emory Center for AIDS Research, Atlanta, GA, USA
4 Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, Epidemiology and Immunology
5 Department of Medicine (Infectious Diseases), Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

Correspondence to: * Correspondence to: R. A. Crosby. E-mail: crosby{at}uky.edu

Maintaining rigor in research is critical; however, this need must be balanced by the necessity of conducting studies in populations where inherent barriers exist relative to key issues such as recruitment, attrition, sampling, sample size, assessment techniques, psychometric rigor, the identification of mediators and moderators and the practical relevance of the research question itself. Ultimately, the value of a study in health promotion should be judged on the practicality of the research question within the context of the target population. Striking the perfect balance between rigor and practicality to the field is a question that health promotion researchers and professionals need to determine through ongoing dialogue and debate.

Received on January 15, 2009; accepted on September 18, 2009


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