Design variations in adaptive web sampling

There is an increasing body of literature related to sampling for network and spatial settings. Although current link-tracing methods like adaptive cluster sampling, snowball sampling, and targeted random walk designs have advantages over conventional designs, some of the following drawbacks remain evident: there is a lack of flexibility in sample placement; thereis an inability to control over sample sizes; and efficiency gains over conventional sampling designs for estimating population parameters may not be achievable. Adaptive web sampling (AWS) is a recently developed link-tracing design that overcomes some of these issues. Furthermore, the flexibility inherent to the AWS method permits many design variations. Using a simulated network population, an empirical population at risk for HIV/AIDS, a simulated spatial population, and an empirical population of birds, this project performs a simulation study to compare the performance of three variations of AWS strategies.