The difficulty in conducting research with hard-to-reach, or “hidden” populations is well-documented (Elze, 2003; Sell & Petrulio, 1996; Sullivan & Losberg, 2003). Research on stigmatized hidden populations, such as gays and lesbians, is especially difficult (Benoit, Jansson, Millar, & Phillips, 2005; Hash & Cramer, 2003). While changes in popular attitudes towards gays and lesbians have made it easier to reach some of them, those who are located outside of urban areas and areas with established gay communities are understudied (Harry, 1986). However, advances in technology, including the rapid expansion of the internet and the development of innovative hardware and software components, provide researchers with increased opportunities to locate and conduct research with populations such as these. This presentation will familiarize participants with innovative technology-based methods for locating study participants, collecting data, and creating web-based communities designed to empower and facilitate communication among participants. The presentation will include demonstrations of the use of videoconferencing as a method of qualitative data collection and web-based applications for creating voluntary support networks among participants. Ethical issues in using the above techniques will also be examined. The presentation will draw upon two recent studies for illustration purposes. First, it will draw upon the methods used for recruiting participants, collecting data, and developing a voluntary community of participants in a qualitative study of 16 gay adoptive fathers. This study utilized several web-based approaches, including recruitment from web-based communities designed for gay and lesbian parents and the development of a private, voluntary web-based group to encourage communication among participants. The study also explored and tested as a method of data collection software programs designed to allow realtime video conferencing. Second, in order to illustrate common practices and innovative approaches to conducting research with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) populations, it will present results from a content analysis of recruitment methods used to locate GLBT participants in a two-year sample of social science journal articles.