Conducting Research with Marginalized Populations: Methodological,Ethical,and IRB Considerations

Abstract

Marginalized populations, such as people experiencing homelessness and immigrants, are seen as among the most challenging populations to study, both methodologically and ethically. Although there are basic guidelines on how to conduct research with majority populations, the relative lack of published guidelines on how to conduct ethical and scientifically rigorous research with marginalized populations can make researchers apprehensive about seemingly unending questions from grant reviewers and institutional review boards (IRBs) concerning research ethics and the safety of human subjects. As a result, there is a persisting gap in research conducting large-scale studies on these populations outside of community organizations and clinical and institutional settings. We emphasize the calls of prior research to streamline IRB processes further to study vulnerable groups. In this paper, we focus on the study of people experiencing homelessness, yet we have used related methods to study immigrants, including those who may be undocumented. We provide guidelines derived from successful social scientific studies on homelessness and immigrants, which can be used to help ease IRB approval for other researchers to gather important data. The benefits of social science research on hard-to-reach populations often outweigh possible risk. By helping to increase research on hidden populations, we can improve the scientific rigor of all research and make important contributions to knowledge.

Keywords

IRB vulnerable populations hidden populations marginally housed homeless point-in-time immigrants homelessness

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Anderson

E. A.

Koblinsky

S. A.

1995. “Homeless Policy: The Need to Speak to Families.” Family Relations 44(1):13–18.

Anderson

1923. The Hobo: The Sociology of the Homeless Man. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Babb

Sarah

. 2020. Regulating Human Research: IRBs from Peer Review to Compliance Bureaucracy. Redwood City, CA: Stanford University Press.

Baggett

T. P.

O’Connell

J. J.

Singer

D. E.

Rigotti

N. A.

2010. “The Unmet Health Care Needs of Homeless Adults: A National Study.” American Journal of Public Health 100(7):1326–33.

Bourgois

Phillippe

Schonberg

Jeff

. 2009. Righteous Dopefiend. Berkley, CA: University of California Press.

Castañeda

Klassen

J. D.

Smith

2014. “Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Homeless Populations in El Paso, Texas.” Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 36(4): 488–505

Cramer

2005. “Informal and Gendered Practices in a Homeless Persons’ Unit.” Housing Studies 20(5):737–51.

Culhane

Dennis P.

2008. “The Cost of Homelessness: A Perspective from the United States.” European Journal of Homelessness 2(1):97–114.

Department of Health Human Services. 2018. “Code of Federal Regulations: Title 45.” Public Welfare: National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/regulations/45-cfr-46/index.html.

10.

Duneier

1999. Sidewalk. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

11.

Ehrenreich

2010. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America. New York: Metropolitan Books.

12.

Ellen

I. G.

O’Flaherty

2010. How to House the Homeless. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

13.

Fitzpatrick

K. M.

Irwin

LaGory

Ritchey

2007. “Just Thinking about It: Social Capital and Suicide Ideation among Homeless Persons.” Journal of Health Psychology 12(5):750–60.

14.

Fitzpatrick

K. M.

Miller

Groos

2007. “A Needs Assessment of the Homeless of Northwest Arkansas.” (https://fulbright.uark.edu/departments/sociology/_resources/pdf/final-reports/Needs_Assessment_Fayetteville_2007.pdf).

15.

Fitzpatrick

K. M.

Myrstol

2011. “The Jailing of America’s Homeless: Evaluating the Rabble Management Thesis.” Crime and Delinquency 57(2):271–97.

16.

Gabbard

W. J.

Snyder

C. S.

Lin

M. B.

Chadha

J. H.

May

J. D.

Jaggers

2007. “Methodological Issues in Enumerating Homeless Individuals.” Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless 16(2):90–103.

17.

Gounis

Kostas

. 1996. “Urban Marginality and Ethnographic Practice: On the Ethics of Fieldwork.” City and Society 8(1):108–18.

18.

Gowan

Theresa

. 2010. Hobos, Hustlers, and Backsliders: Homeless in San Francisco. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

19.

Herman

D. B.

Conover

Gorroochurn

Hinterland

Hoepner

Susser

E. S.

2011. “Randomized Trial of Critical Time Intervention to Prevent Homelessness after Hospital Discharge.” Psychiatric Services 62(7):713–19.

20.

Holmes

S. M.

Castañeda

2016. “Representing the ‘European Refugee Crisis’ in Germany and Beyond: Deservingness and Difference, Life and Death.” American Ethnologist 43(1):12–24.

21.

Holmes

S. M.

Castañeda

Geeraert

Castaneda

Probst

Zeldes

Willen

Sarah S.

Dibba

Yusupha

Frankfurter

Raphael

Lie

Anne Kveim

Askjer

John Fredrik

Fjeld

Heidi

. 2021. “Deservingness: Migration and Health in Social Context.” BMJ Global Health 6(1):1–5.

22.

Hopper

Kim

. 2003. Reckoning with Homelessness. Ithaca, NY: Cornel University Press.

23.

Hopper

Kim

Shinn

Marybeth

Laska

Eugene

Meisner

Morris

Wanderling

Joseph

. 2008. “Estimating Numbers of Unsheltered Homeless People through Plant-capture and Postcount Survey Methods.” American Journal of Public Health 98(8):1438–42.

24.

Huey

Laura

Fthenos

Georgios

Hryniewicz

Danielle

. 2012. “‘I Need Help and I Know I Need Help. Why Won’t Nobody Listen to Me?’ Trauma and Homeless Women’s Experiences with Accessing and Consuming Mental Health Services.” Society and Mental Health 2:120–34.

25.

Jackson

2007. “The Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress.” Retrieved November 25, 2022 (http://www.huduser.org/Publications/pdf/ahar.pdf).

26.

Jenks

Christopher

. 1995. The Homeless. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

27.

Johnson

Chamberlain

2008. “Homelessness and Substance Abuse: Which Comes First?” Australian Social Work 61(4):342–56.

28.

Lee

B. A.

Tyler

K. A.

Wright

J. D.

2010. “The New Homelessness Revisited.” The Annual Review of Sociology 36:501–21.

29.

Lee-Anderson

2019. Is Counting the Homeless a Useful Exercise? Enumerating Methods Past and Present: A Review of the Literature. Portland, OR: Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative, Portland State University.

30.

Lyon-Callo

2000. “Medicalizing Homelessness: The Production of Self-blame and Self-governing within Homeless Shelters.” Medical Anthropology Quarterly 14(3):328–45.

31.

Mares

A. S.

Rosenheck

R. A.

2010. “Twelve-month Client Outcomes and Service Use in a Multisite Project for Chronically Homelessness Adults.” The Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research 37(2):167–83.

32.

Marr

Matthew D.

2005. “Mitigating Apprehension about Section 8 Vouchers: The Positive Role of Housing Specialists in Search and Placement.” Housing Policy Debate 16(1):85–111.

33.

Marr

Matthew D.

2015. Better Must Come: Exiting Homelessness in Two Global Cities. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

34.

Marr

Matthew D.

DeVerteuil

Geoff

Snow

David

. 2009. “Towards a Contextual Approach to the Place-homeless Survival Nexus: An Exploratory Case Study of Los Angeles.” Cities 26(6):307–17.

35.

Massey

D. S.

2007. Categorically Unequal: The American Stratification System. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

36.

National Coalition for the Homeless. 2013. The State of Homelessness in America 2012. Washington, DC: National Coalition for the Homeless.

37.

National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. (1978). The Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research. Bethesda, MD: The Commission.

38.

National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty. (2017). “Don’t Count on It: How the HUD Point-in-time Count Underestimates the Homelessness Crisis in America.” National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty. (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjq3aKg-_T7AhVGK1kFHYOFBRwQFnoECBMQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fhomelesslaw.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2FHUD-PIT-report2017.pdf&usg=AOvVaw35a99DA4Po1ed4FD8zSIOa).

39.

Nuremberg. (1949). The Nuremberg Code. Trials of War Criminals before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals under Control Council Law. No. 10. Nuernberg, October -April 1949. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Publishing Office. Retrieved November 25, 2022 (https://lccn.loc.gov/2011525364).

40.

Nyamathi

Koniak-Griffin

Tallen

González-Figueroa

Levson

Mosley

Dominick

Ernestina

Anderson

Nancy L. R.

(2004). “Use of Community-based Participatory Research in Preparing Low Income and Homeless Minority Populations for Future HIV Vaccines.” Journal of Interprofessional Care 18(4):369–80.

41.

O’Toole

T. P.

Conde-Martel

Alicia

Gibbon

Jeanette L.

Hanusa

Barbara H.

Freyder

Paul J.

Fine

Michael J

. 2007. “Where Do People Go When They First become Homeless? A Survey of Homeless Adults in the USA.” Health and Social Care in the Community 15(5):446–53.

42.

Padgett

Deborah

Henwood

Benjamin F.

Tsemberis

Sam J.

2016. Housing First: Ending Homelessness, Transforming Systems, and Changing Lives. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

43.

Phelan

Link

B. G.

Moore

E. R.

Stueve

1997. “The Stigma of Homelessness: The Impact of the Label ‘homeless’ on Attitudes toward Poor Persons.” Social Psychology Quarterly 4(60):323–37.

44.

Robinson

B. A.

2020. Coming Out to the Streets: LGBTQ Youth Experiencing Homelessness. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

45.

Rossi

Peter

. 1989. Down and Out in America: The Origins of Homelessness. Chicago, IL: Chicago Press.

46.

Rossi

Peter

. 1999. “Half Truths with Real Consequences: Journalism, Research, and Public Policy. Three Encounters.” Contemporary Sociology 28(1–5).

47.

Rossi

Peter

Wright

James

. 1987. “The Determinants of Homelessness.” Health Affairs 6(1):19–32.

48.

Rowe

1999. Crossing the Border: Encounters between Homeless People and Outreach Workers. Berkley, CA: University of California Press.

49.

Ryan

Tan

Hatchett

1999. “Homeless Adults on the Texas-Mexico Border: Results of a Point-in-time Survey in one Texas Border Town.” Journal of Borderlands Studies 14(1):65–81.

50.

Schneider

Brisson

Burnes

2016. “Do We Really Know How Many Are Homeless? An Analysis of the Point-in Homelessness Count.” Families in Society 97(4):321–29.

51.

Shlay

Anne

Rossi

Peter

. 1992. “Social Science Research and Contemporary Studies of Homelessness.” Annual Review of Sociology 18:129–60.

52.

Singer

Merrill

. 1999. “Studying Hidden Populations.” Pp. 125–91 in Mapping Social Networks, Spatial Data, and Hidden Populations, edited by Schensul

J. J.

LeCompte

Margaret D.

Robert

Trotter

II Crowley

Ellen H.

Singer

Merrill

. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.

53.

Slesnick

Kang

M. J.

Bonomi

A. E.

Prestopnik

J. L.

2008. “Six-and Twelve-month Outcomes among Homeless Youth Accessing Therapy and Case Management Services through an Urban Drop-in Center.” Health Services Research 43(1):211–29.

54.

Smith

Curtis

. 2022. Homelessness and Housing Advocacy: The Role of Red-tape Warriors. New York: Routledge.

55.

Smith

Curtis

Anderson

Leon

. 2018. “Fitting Stories: Outreach Worker Strategies for Housing Homeless Clients.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 47(5):535–50.

56.

Smith

Curtis

Castañeda-Tinoco

Ernesto

. 2019. “Improving Homeless Point-in Counts: Uncovering the Marginally Housed.” Social Currents 6(2):91–104.

57.

Smith

Curtis

Castañeda-Tinoco

Ernesto

. 2020. “Sick Enough? Mental Illness and Service Eligibility for Homeless Individuals at the Border.” Social Sciences 9(8):145.

58.

Smith

Curtis

Castañeda-Tinoco

Ernesto

Heyman

Josiah

. 2012. “The Homeless and Occupy El Paso: Creating Community among the 99%.” Social Movement Studies 11(3–4):356–66.

59.

Snow

David A.

Anderson

Leon

. 1987. “Identity Work among the Homeless: The Verbal Construction and Avowal of Personal Identities.” American Journal of Sociology 92(6):1336–71.

60.

Snow

David A.

Anderson

Leon

. 1993. Down on Their Luck: A Study of Homeless Street People. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

61.

Snow

David A.

Anderson

Leon

Koegel

Paul

. 1994. “Distorting Tendencies in Research on the Homeless.” American Behavioral Scientist 37(4):461–75.

62.

Snow

David A.

Baker

Susan

Anderson

Leon

. 1988. “On the Precariousness of Measuring Insanity in Insane Contexts.” Social Problems 35(2):192–96.

63.

Snow

David A.

Baker

Susan

Anderson

Leon

Martin

Michael

. 1986. “The Myth of Pervasive Mental Illness among the Homeless.” Social Problems 33(5):407–23.

64.

Stuart

Forrest

. 2016. Down, Out, and under Arrest: Policing and Everyday Life in Skid Row. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

65.

Susser

Ezra

Conover

Sara

Struening

Elmer

. 1990. “Mental Illness in the Homeless: Problems of Epidemiologic Method in Surveys of the 1980s.” Community Mental Health Journal 26: 391–414.

66.

Tan

Ryan

2001. “Homeless Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Adults on the Texas-Mexico Border.” Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 23(2):239–49.

67.

Tilly

Charles

. 1998. Durable Inequality. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

68.

Ulin

P. R.

Robinson

E. T.

Tolley

E. E.

2005. Qualitative Methods in Public Health: A Field Guide for Applied Research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

69.

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. 2018. “Code of Federal Regulations: Title 45.” Public Welfare: National Archives and Records Administration. https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/regulations/45-cfr-46/index.html.

70.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 2022a. “Governance Charter.” Continuum of Care 2.0, Washington, DC. Retrieved November 25, 2022 (https://files.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/CoC-Governance-Charter-Transcript.pdf).

71.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 2022b. “Point-in-time Count Methodology Guide.” U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Retrieved November 25, 2022 (https://files.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/PIT-Count-Methodology-Guide.pdf).

72.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 2022c. “Point-in-time Survey Tools.” HUD Exchange, Washington, DC. Retrieved November 25, 2022 (https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/3322/point-in-time-survey-tools/).

73.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 2022d. “The 2021 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress.” Retrieved November 25, 2022 (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiTqPuQ0Lz4AhU6HjQIHadOBq8QFnoECBYQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huduser.gov%2Fportal%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fpdf%2F2021-AHAR-Part-1.pdf&usg=AOvVaw03YD8djbIGpuEjXBsRPEWT).

74.

Voeten

2010. Tunnel People. Oakland, CA: PM Press.

75.

Wallace

S. E.

1965. Skid Row as a Way of Life: A Study of Homeless Street People. Bedminster, NJ: Bedminster Press.

76.

Wasserman

J. A.

Clair

J. M.

2010. At Home on the Street: People, Poverty, and a Hidden Culture of Homelessness. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

77.

Williams

J. C.

2011. “‘Stand Up and Be Counted’: The Politics of a Homeless Enumeration.” Poverty & Public Policy 3(3):1–27.

78.

Willse

Craig

. 2015. The Value of Homelessness: Managing Surplus Life in the United States. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.