Just out: Magic bullet or questionable remedy? Discussing the use of Meta advertising to recruit hard-to-reach migrants for surveys

I’m excited to share a new article co-authored with Howard Ramos, just published in the Journal of Refugee Studies:

“Magic bullet or questionable remedy? Discussing the use of Meta advertising to recruit hard-to-reach migrants for surveys”

Collecting timely data on migrants and refugees is crucial, yet reaching these often small and mobile populations remains a major challenge. In this piece, we explore whether advertisements on Facebook and Instagram can help—and highlight both the promises and the pitfalls of using such tools for survey recruitment.

This rather unconventional paper grew out of conversations which Howard and I started during nice autumn walks in beautiful London (Ontario), while I was on a research stay at Western University in 2022. Thus, we decided to keep the article in a conversational style rather than a traditional format. Our discussion offers practical insights into recruitment dynamics, ethical questions, data quality, and the opaque workings of ad-targeting algorithms.

We hope the piece provides inspiration and accessible entry points, especially for early-career scholars and in teaching contexts.

Full citation:
Steffen Pötzschke & Howard Ramos (2025). Magic bullet or questionable remedy? Discussing the use of Meta advertising to recruit hard-to-reach migrants for surveys. Journal of Refugee Studies. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/feaf052