Sampling and recruitment issues in qualitative drugs research: reflections on the study of club drug users in metro New York.

This paper describes the role and implications of sampling and recruitment in qualitative drugs research. To provide further detail of some issues pertaining to sampling in qualitative and ethnographic projects, the author describes recent experiences utilizing theoretical sampling and time-space sampling to study club drug users. The author details practical challenges experienced with the implementation of these sampling methodologies and with the results they produced. Attention is paid to the role that the environmental factors at clubs play in the implementation of sampling methods, issues related to network methods in recruitment, and practical implications of managing team-based recruitment strategies.