The Feasibility of Using National Surveys to Derive Samples of Older People from Different Ethnic Groups in Britain: Lessons from ‘Piggy‐Backing’ on the Family Resources Survey

The challenges in sampling older people from minority ethnic backgrounds are considerable. This article assesses critically an approach that involves ‘piggy‐backing’ on an existing national survey in order to generate a sample. It reflects on the experience of a project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council under its Growing Older programme that required a representative sample of older people from different ethnic groups, including a control group of ‘white’ majority respondents. The General Household Survey, the British Household Panel Survey, the Fourth National Survey of Ethnic Minorities and the Family Resources Survey (FRS) were assessed for their suitability as ‘host’ surveys. The FRS was eventually selected and further efforts were made to assess its suitability by observing an FRS briefing session for field workers, as well as observing a field worker in action. The process of securing a sample is outlined. The lessons learnt from the experience have wider applicability and raise issues surrounding informed consent, response and attrition rates, as well as time and resource implications.