Recruitment

Recruitment Methods

Considerations and planning for recruitment should occur during the early stages of project development. A methodology section often needs to be tailored to accommodate the needs of recruitment and retention (keeping individuals in the study). The ability to attract and maintain participants is crucial to most studies, and some methodologies can lead to problems with participation and recruitment. Methodological problems may include length of time of the study, number of surveys, location, and language and literacy barriers. In addition, partnerships formed with community agencies, which will increase recruitment, may have restrictions that require alterations to the methods. For this reason in particular, designing recruitment strategies needs to occur at the beginning of the study design to allow for any necessary adjustments.

There are several ways to recruit participants for research studies. One common method used at universities is department subject pools. In several undergraduate classes, students are often mandated to participate in research studies for course credit, and students are provided a list of research projects available for participation.

Online research advertisements are also very popular. There are several options for posting online research. For example, popular social networking sites such as MySpace or Facebook are often used. Researchers can also contact website owners of relevant topics and ask for permission to advertise. Depending on the site, an advertising fee may be required. There are also several websites dedicated to posting research studies. If a study is posted online but requires in-person contact, it is advisable to make sure that the advertisements are located on a website frequented by individuals within the geographical area.

Other common recruitment strategies include advertisements in newspapers, community magazines, television or radio announcements, flyers posted at community centers, stores, related businesses, or available at related community events. Some of these forms of advertisement may be costly; however, companies may be willing to donate space, especially if the researcher is affiliated with a nonprofit organization such as a public university. It is important that before materials are posted in public places, permission for posting is obtained.

Another form of recruitment includes the use of a preexisting database of individuals who have consented to be contacted to participate in research studies. University departments or community agencies can be contacted to inquire about requirements to access these databases. Examples include a registry established at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania and the Cognitive Neuroscience Research Registry at McGill University, which provide a structure for recruitment and retention and serve as a data management system for cognitive neuroscience researchers. However, as with these examples, some of the participant lists may be specific to one topic.

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