This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Records, K. Articles by Rice, M. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Enhancing Participant Recruitment in Studies of Sensitive Topics

Arizona State University, Tempe

Michael Rice

Washington State University, Spokane

Recruiting participants in studies involving sensitive topics can be challenging. OBJECTIVE This article examines whether a modified application of the Dillman method for enhancing survey response rates will increase participant recruitment rates when studying abuse during childbearing. STUDY DESIGN Bilingual informed consents (N =676) were mailed from 10 obstetrician, midwife, and family practice offices. Return of a signed informed consent enrolled the participant in the study. Informed consents were sent a maximum of three times to nonresponders. RESULTSApplication of the modified Dillman method improved the recruitment rate from 13% to 35%, but only 16% of the sample had experienced abuse. CONCLUSION The data provide initial evidence supporting using this methodology for increasing sample recruitment. Further study is necessary to identify whether the characteristics of participants responding to the first mailing differ from the characteristics of those who respond to subsequent mailings.

Key Words: methods • abuse • recruitment • sensitive topics

Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, Vol. 12, No. 1, 28-36 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1078390306288830


CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?