Hi everyone,

I'm currently a MSc Health Psychology international student studying in the UK. I have nearly finished all of my coursework, so will be eligible for a Postgraduate Diploma of Health Psych in June, but am hoping to get my MSc when my dissertation is due in September.

I spoke to my supervisor via email before coming to the UK (from Australia) to discuss potential dissertation topics, and it seemed that our research interests were aligned and that I was going to be able to pursue the topic of my choice. Unfortunately once I arrived, she said we couldn't do what I wanted to do, because it would not be an original project, and she gave me a project of hers on a completely different topic.

I was okay with this, and was just glad to be doing a masters in the UK, but unfortunately my project is not going well. Compared to my peers, my participant base is much smaller and very restricted - adult survivors of childhood cancer, still experiencing pain from their childhood cancer. My supervisor has not provided me with any direction, or any help in finding participants.

I have tried contacting charities and support groups (no luck), and have also found a couple of FB groups, but they are full of Americans. My supervisor has suggested making a press release, including my study and contact details in a local newspaper and asking them to come to the uni, but I'm not keen for safety reasons - and it seems a bit insensitive given the topic.

She has also suggested interviewing the Americans from the FB groups over Skype, and I'm in the process of making an ethics amendment to include it, but I'm not sure if this will really work. My thesis is due in early September, has to be 10 000 words, and I haven't started. Do you think this recruitment method is feasible? What do you think? Both my supervisor and I don't have any other ideas.

Thanks for your opinion!

I interviewed people over the phone (so that I could record the interviews for transcription) for my doctoral research, so it's a perfectly practical and acceptable alternative to face-to-face interviews.