The organisation of research on racism raises a lot of methodological issues. First, the choice of a survey method depends on general criteria such as the characteristics of the target population and local criteria such as the geographical and structural context. Typically, general population surveys on victimization due to violence include comparatively small numbers of people from ethnic minorities, if ethnic background is considered at all. On the other hand, the face-to-face interview has been used only in a few Finnish studies on the experience of racism (Virtanen 1996; Ylänkö 1996). Although this method allows a great deal of flexibility, it is expensive and time-consuming, leading to a small sample size, while the setting where the interviews are done may also influence the answers. Furthermore, Finnish studies on racism may be criticized because of partly biased formulations of questions (Virrankoski 1994), omission of racist acts (Jaakkola 1999), low response rate (Jasinskaja-Lahti et al. 1997), bias in study populations (Reinboth 1997), and missing descriptions of data collection (Kaplan 1999).

Sampling procedures in studies on racism among ethnic minorities often reflect administrative practices in a given country, which may exclude immigrants that have arrived in a country only recently (e.g. Jasinskaja-Lahti et al. 1997). Similarly, multi-ethnic or mixed origins may not have been taken into consideration in Finnish studies on racism. According to Bhobal and Donaldson (1998), careful description of the characteristics of each population studied to make clear the basis of racial or ethnic classification (e.g., ancestry, geographical origin, birthplace, language, religion, or migration history) is an essential starting point. This approach does not solve the problem of how populations perceive themselves, however. On the other hand, while convenience and street samples may produce shortcomings in data comparability, and bias in a non-randomized sample, they may reach groups that may be left unnoticed in studies on racist violence, such as students and tourists (e.g. Virtanen 1996).