Editing Snowball sampling (section)

====Conflict environments====

It has been observed that conducting research in conflict environments is challenging due to mistrust and suspicion. A conflict environment is one in which people or groups think that their needs and goal are contradictory to the goals and or needs of other people or groups. These conflicts among people or groups might include claims to territory, resources, trade, civil and religious rights that cause considerable misunderstanding and heighten disagreements, leading to an environment with lack of trust and suspicion.  In a conflict environment, the entire population (rather than a specific group of people) is marginalized to some extent, which makes it hard for investigators to reach potential participants for their research.  For example, a threatening political environment under an authoritarian regime creates obstacles for the investigators to conduct the research. Snowball sampling has been demonstrated as a useful method in conducting research in conflict environments, such as in the context of the Israel and Arab Conflict.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Arieli|first=Tamar|date=2009-06-01|title=Israeli-Palestinian border enterprises revisited|journal=Journal of Borderlands Studies|volume=24|issue=2|pages=1–14|doi=10.1080/08865655.2009.9695724|s2cid=143340129|issn=0886-5655}}</ref> Snowball sampling allows the investigators to approach the marginalized population at cognitive and emotional level and enroll them in study. Snowball sampling addresses the conditions of lack of trust that arises due to uncertainty about the future through trace-linking methodology.<ref name="Cohen 423–435">{{Cite journal|last1=Cohen|first1=Nissim|last2=Arieli|first2=Tamar|date=2011-07-01|title=Field research in conflict environments: Methodological challenges and snowball sampling|journal=Journal of Peace Research|language=en|volume=48|issue=4|pages=423–435|doi=10.1177/0022343311405698|s2cid=145328311|issn=0022-3433}}</ref>