I read this message and immediately thought the same thing--isn't this old-fashioned "snowball sampling"? I still use the latter term but I admit I like the ring of "viral sampling." :) Rhiannon ----- Original Message ---- From: Barry Wellman <wellman@chass.utoronto.ca> To: aoir list <air-l@aoir.org> Sent: Monday, May 12, 2008 9:44:09 AM Subject: [Air-L] viral sampling Taryn, What you're doing is called "snowball sampling" and has been around for about 30 years in sociology -- altho not widely used there.