Overcoming methodological challenges in conceptualizing and measuring labor trafficking victimization

• In Event: Human Trafficking Measurement

Abstract

Small sample sizes for big problems.
This presentation aims to contribute to an understanding of how victims experience force, fraud and coercion in labor trafficking, as a form of human trafficking that generally deserves more attention in research and policy. However, methodological challenges related to small sample sizes have led some researchers to put the topic aside, resulting in a lasting neglect of this hidden practice. A main theme of this presentation is that a small sample is not a synonym for an irrelevant sample. The presentation shows that particularly in research on hidden or largely undefined practices, small samples are still relevant for building up knowledge and guiding future research. It demonstrates how certain statistical techniques are suitable for the small sample in this study (N=122 victims), which draws on data collected by the Urban Institute and Northeastern University (2014). The study puts forward the building blocks for a better understanding of a so far poorly understood practice and links labor victimization in different human trafficking stages to type of industry, victim-offender relationships, victim-offender similarities, network involvement and victim’s prior vulnerabilities.

Authors

• Ieke de Vries, Northeastern University

• Amy Farrell, Northeastern University