Assessment: a reply

[Guest guest]

. I liked the additional comments on Assessment. And thanks for the

glimpse at insidership ( " ground truthing " ) within the geography community.

Tempting as it is to rely only on the preliminary exploration technique you

nicely outline, there may be places in the country (pais, not campo) where

other arms of hidden population research may be useful. These strategies,

if I recall from presentations I've heard by you and Don, were used in the

CAWS in one form or another, to a greater or lesser degree. Together with

classic targeted sampling in hidden population research, we augment

techniques with agency-identified, outreach-recruited and

respondent-nominated sampling, and the more nebulous self-referral by

participants who " hear " about the research or program.

Leo Chavez (an anthropologist) popularized the term " spider hole " to refer

to the temporary encampments you've encountered in San Diego County. He and

other anthropologists have worked in the area that you mentioned; one

reference to north San Diego County is the evaluation study that appears as

a chapter in AIDS CROSSING BORDERS.

V Bletzer. Dep of Anthropology, Arizona State Univ.