Publisher: AAPOR (American Association for Public Opinion Research) Suggested Citation: Adhikari, P. 2013. Sampling Hard to Reach Populations: A Survey on Forced Migration During Maoist Insurgency in Nepal. Survey Practice. 6 (3). ISSN: 2168-0094 Vol. 6, no 3, 2013 | www.surveypractice.org The premier e-journal resource for the public opinion and survey research community Sampling Hard to Reach Populations: A Survey on Forced Migration During Maoist Insurgency in Nepal Prakash Adhikari Central Michigan University Introduction Forced migrants typically include two types of individuals, refugees who cross an international border and internally displaced persons (IDPs) who flee their homes but do not cross the border into another country. Scholars in the field acknowledge that it is extremely difficult to obtain accurate data on forced migration caused by conflict (Crisp 1999). This research provides an account of this issue with a description of the problems one faces in enumerating forced migrants, the role that human rights organizations play in reaching such populations and the sampling method used in the present survey (see Adhikari 2012a for details). The Maoist Insurgency in Nepal and Challenges of Identifying Forced Migrants Nepal went through a decade of Maoist insurgency beginning in 1996, in which over 13,000 people were killed, thousands displaced and many more disappeared. Similar to other conflict situations, figures on displacement during the Maoist insurgency in Nepal vary dramatically. Only one organization, namely the Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC), a national human rights organization operating throughout Nepal since 1988, made a concerted effort to document and verify displacement figures. Their work was conducted on a subnational, district by district basis. According to INSEC, 50,356 people were displaced from across the 75 districts by the end of 2004. There is strong reason to believe that the data collected by INSEC is the most reliable and accurate. Because INSEC operates in all 75 districts of Nepal, the data collected by their