Data Collection (E.G., Focus Groups, Surveys, Experiments)

¶ … data collection (e.g., focus groups, surveys, experiments) used in the literature of your Final Project. Then describe one benefit and one limitation of each method of data collection.

Human trafficking: Literature and methodology review

One of the most difficult aspects of studying human trafficking is that even international authorities that collect data on the phenomenon acknowledge the impossibility of finding authoritative sources on how often it occurs. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has stated that such a "statistical goal may prove to be unachievable...[and] a 2005 report by the International Labor Organization said that there were approximately 12,300,000 victims in forced labor in the world (ILO, 2005), while Bales (2005) offered an estimate of 27 million" (Loring, Engstrom, Hillard & Dias 2007:1). The UN does state with some authority that "the majority of persons trafficked are female, perhaps nearly 80%" (Loring, Engstrom, Hillard & Dias 2007:1)

Quantitative analysis pertaining to the seriousness of trafficking is important to raise concern and awareness about the extent of this crime. There is also some evidence that trafficking is growing more common, given that globalization and the free flow of information and human bodies across borders is easier than ever before. Once again, quantitative analysis is frequently used to support such notions. But unfortunately, because quantitative analyses are attempting to measure a crime in which both the perpetrators and the victims are frequently unwilling to admit to the offense, there is a limit to how much quantitative analysis can be authoritative.

However, within the limits of what accurate quantitative analysis is available, some aspects of the practice have been illuminating. For example, the female nature of trafficking highlights the predominance of the sex industry in fueling the economic demand for trafficking. The increase in trafficking in recent years is linked not simply to globalization but also to the growing economic chasm between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' of the developed world and the developing world, creating conditions for exploitation. However, the extent to which possibly incomplete data can be used to support policy changes may not be motivating for governments that have a personal, vested PR interest in denying the extent to which trafficking takes place. In China, only 147 suspected traffickers were arrested in 2007, even though the extent of the crime is far wider, according to virtually all outside estimates, including the UN (Lagon 2008).