The good, bad, and ugly of online recruitment of parents for health-related focus groups: lessons learned
- PMID: 24231040
- PMCID: PMC3841369
- DOI: 10.2196/jmir.2829
The good, bad, and ugly of online recruitment of parents for health-related focus groups: lessons learned
Abstract
Background: We describe our experiences with identifying and recruiting Ontario parents through the Internet, primarily, as well as other modes, for participation in focus groups about adding the influenza vaccine to school-based immunization programs.
Objective: Our objectives were to assess participation rates with and without incentives and software restrictions. We also plan to examine study response patterns of unique and multiple submissions and assess efficiency of each online advertising mode.
Methods: We used social media, deal forum websites, online classified ads, conventional mass media, and email lists to invite parents of school-aged children from Ontario, Canada to complete an online questionnaire to determine eligibility for focus groups. We compared responses and paradata when an incentive was provided and there were no software restrictions to the questionnaire (Period 1) to a period when only a single submission per Internet protocol (IP) address (ie, software restrictions invoked) was permitted and no incentive was provided (Period 2). We also compared the median time to complete a questionnaire, response patterns, and percentage of missing data between questionnaires classified as multiple submissions from the same Internet protocol (IP) address or email versus unique submissions. Efficiency was calculated as the total number of hours study personnel devoted to an advertising mode divided by the resultant number of unique eligible completed questionnaires .
Results: Of 1346 submitted questionnaires, 223 (16.6%) were incomplete and 34 (2.52%) did not meet the initial eligibility criteria. Of the remaining 1089 questionnaires, 246 (22.6%) were not from Ontario based on IP address and postal code, and 469 (43.1%) were submitted from the same IP address or email address (multiple submissions). In Period 2 vs Period 1, a larger proportion of questionnaires were submitted from Ontario (92.8%, 141/152 vs 75.1%, 702/937, P<.001), and a smaller proportion of same IP addresses (7.9%, 12/152 vs 47.1%, 441/937, P<.001) were received. Compared to those who made unique submissions, those who made multiple submissions spent less time per questionnaire (166 vs 215 seconds, P<.001), and had a higher percentage of missing data among their responses (15.0% vs 7.6%, P=.004). Advertisements posted on RedFlagDeals were the most efficient for recruitment (0.03 hours of staff time per questionnaire), whereas those placed on Twitter were the least efficient (3.64 hours of staff time per questionnaire).
Conclusions: Using multiple online advertising strategies was effective for recruiting a large sample of participants in a relatively short period time with minimal resources. However, risks such as multiple submissions and potentially fraudulent information need to be considered. In our study, these problems were associated with providing an incentive for responding, and could have been partially avoided by activating restrictive software features for online questionnaires.
Keywords: Internet; communication; data collection; parents; social media.
Conflict of interest statement
Conflicts of Interest: None declared.
Figures
Similar articles
-
Internet-based recruitment to a depression prevention intervention: lessons from the Mood Memos study.J Med Internet Res. 2013 Feb 12;15(2):e31. doi: 10.2196/jmir.2262. J Med Internet Res. 2013. PMID: 23403043 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
-
The Impact of Incentives on Data Collection for Online Surveys: Social Media Recruitment Study.JMIR Form Res. 2024 Jul 4;8:e50240. doi: 10.2196/50240. JMIR Form Res. 2024. PMID: 38963924
-
Challenges of internet recruitment: a case study with disappointing results.J Med Internet Res. 2005 Mar 19;7(1):e6. doi: 10.2196/jmir.7.1.e6. J Med Internet Res. 2005. PMID: 15829478 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
-
The Use of Facebook in Recruiting Participants for Health Research Purposes: A Systematic Review.J Med Internet Res. 2017 Aug 28;19(8):e290. doi: 10.2196/jmir.7071. J Med Internet Res. 2017. PMID: 28851679 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Applications and Recruitment Performance of Web-Based Respondent-Driven Sampling: Scoping Review.J Med Internet Res. 2021 Jan 15;23(1):e17564. doi: 10.2196/17564. J Med Internet Res. 2021. PMID: 33448935 Free PMC article. Review.
Cited by
-
Bot or Not? Detecting and Managing Participant Deception When Conducting Digital Research Remotely: Case Study of a Randomized Controlled Trial.J Med Internet Res. 2023 Sep 14;25:e46523. doi: 10.2196/46523. J Med Internet Res. 2023. PMID: 37707943 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
-
Development and pilot testing of the 2019 Canadian Abortion Provider Survey.Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2023 Mar 23;9(1):49. doi: 10.1186/s40814-023-01279-1. Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2023. PMID: 36959670 Free PMC article.
-
Bots and nots: Safeguarding online survey research with underrepresented and diverse populations.Psychol Sex. 2022;13(4):901-911. doi: 10.1080/19419899.2021.1936617. Epub 2021 Jun 7. Psychol Sex. 2022. PMID: 36439051 Free PMC article.
-
The use of online social media for the recruitment of people living with HIV in Spain and Latin America: Lessons from two studies.Health Soc Care Community. 2022 Nov;30(6):e4065-e4073. doi: 10.1111/hsc.13799. Epub 2022 Mar 22. Health Soc Care Community. 2022. PMID: 35318765 Free PMC article.
-
Revising Recruitment for Focus Groups to Meet Shifting Needs During COVID-19.Nurs Res. 2022 Mar-Apr 01;71(2):158-163. doi: 10.1097/NNR.0000000000000563. Nurs Res. 2022. PMID: 35212499 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Patel MX, Doku V, Tennakoon L. Challenges in recruitment of research participants. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment. 2003;9:229–238. doi: 10.1192/apt.9.3.229. - DOI
-
- Graham AL, Milner P, Saul JE, Pfaff L. Online advertising as a public health and recruitment tool: comparison of different media campaigns to increase demand for smoking cessation interventions. J Med Internet Res. 2008;10(5):e50. doi: 10.2196/jmir.1001. http://www.jmir.org/2008/5/e50/ - DOI - PMC - PubMed
-
- Ramo DE, Hall SM, Prochaska JJ. Reaching young adult smokers through the internet: comparison of three recruitment mechanisms. Nicotine Tob Res. 2010 Jul;12(7):768–75. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntq086. http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/20530194 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
-
- Ramo DE, Prochaska JJ. Broad reach and targeted recruitment using Facebook for an online survey of young adult substance use. J Med Internet Res. 2012;14(1):e28. doi: 10.2196/jmir.1878. http://www.jmir.org/2012/1/e28/ - DOI - PMC - PubMed
Publication types
MeSH terms
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Research Materials