I'd like to ask some advice, if anyone can help? I'm trying to begin data collection and it's proving to be hell - everyone seems to be too busy (really hope this isn't a sign of things to come). I'm going to make a recruitment poster but there don't appear to be any helpful sites on the internet that I can find on they way to go about them. Does anyone know of any sites or have any tips on how to go about them? I know it sounds sad but I've got no idea. Thanks a lot.

Hi,
It must seem difficult to recruit volunteers for the study, but u just need some time and then u will probably get more volunteers than u would need....Firstly I would target the student community...I would send e-mails to all my friends, especially those in different Unis and ask them to pass it on to other friends.... Another thing which I would do would be to put an ad in Gumtree (which is free!!!) I would also go to different colleges and put up posters on their notice boards.... and also some local supermarket if they give me permission..... The thing is the more the publicity u give to ur study , more people will be interested in doing it !!!! And if u r paying the volunteers some money or any other perks, it really helps!!!!
Dont worry, i am sure things will work out fine for u,......(up)

the only thing that worked for me was recruiting through a temp agency.

Thanks guys. I should have been more specific really. The research I'm doing involves a specific group of patients with a chronic disease and clinicians that are involved in treating such patients. As it's in the NHS I need to be specific about how I recruit such patients - and a poster is one way. The problem so far is no one has expressed interest and it's like hitting a brick wall. So I'm hoping I can create posters to place up in waiting areas to increase my chances.

======= Date Modified 15 Sep 2008 22:11:40 =======
Is it designing the actual poster that you're stuck with?

If it is, maybe start with this...
Work out exactly what you want it to say - what is your content going to be? Probably best to keep it simple.
What size do you want the poster to be - A4/A3? Bigger? This will have an impact on the size of the text you use - it should be legible to the viewer, so tiny type is not good if it's going to be stuck on a wall in a waiting room.
Have you seen any leaflets or posters that you think look good, with similar content or purpose to your proposed poster? If you have, you could adapt the design for your own needs.

You could probably do it ok in Microsoft Word or Powerpoint, as they have lots of templates that you can adapt. Their clip art is a bit hideous, but you can do a basic layout and insert your own image if you've got a good one.

Don't know any specific sites I'm afraid, but the 'help' is ok in those programs.

Hi Rubyw, thanks very much for your advice. The design itself isn't too bad - the recruitment poster (or flyer) needs to be very bland. It was more what to put into it and the layout of that information. But, like you've said, I just need to find some existing examples and see how they've done it. Thanks very much for your help. :-)

What incentive do participants have? How many do you need?

I had a hell of a time with this - and I had to pay participants in the end.

Hi Smilodon, that's the problem. According to the sample size calculations I have done, I need 246 patients and 50 allied health professionals in total for the whole study for quantitative and qualitative techniques. Most of the patients will just be completing questionnaires in their own time and posting them back to me. However, 40 patients and 30 AHPs will be involved in interviews of some sort. I've got a very limited budget, so I don't think I'll be able to offer incentives. My supervisors haven't really told me it's going to be a problem, but after the day I've had I feel it is. An advantage I have though is that their involvement will be for less than a day - typically 2 hours at the most.

Can you apply for some sort of small grant in order to reimburse participants for their time and effort? My supervisor was totally clueless and unhelpful about recruitment. Has yours supervised a project that needs this type of recruitment before? Can you speak to someone who has?

Are there any support groups for the condition you are looking at? Perhaps they could circulate an email or carry an ad in their newsletter. Don't waste time undererstimating how tough this is going to be (like I did!). If it's mainly postal, put posters or leaflets in as many hospitals and GPs surgeries as you can regardless of distance. Be sure to 'sell' your projects as furthering the treatment/understanding or whatever of condition x even if that's only tangentially applicable. Remember that completetion rates for quetionnaires are never 100%. Some will have missing information that you will need to chase up because every case will count - you can't afford to lose any due to missing info.

For the poster - make sure the key terms can be picked out across the room - keep that bit very clear and simple. Some people put contact details in vertical tear-off strips along the bottom so people don't have to write stuff down (a major stumbling block!).

If the student population has potential, have a stand at the Fresher's Fair if you can (or share one) and sign people up - and have leaflets people can give to friends or family.

======= Date Modified 16 Sep 2008 10:32:24 =======
Sounds very ambitious. Mixed methods require a strong defence. My advice is to go down one route; either quantitative or qualitative. The sample looks huge for a lone researcher. Which particular chronic illness are you targeting? As your study deals with patients and AHPs, have you started applying for approval from your local research ethics committee (LREC) and research governance etc, etc.

The obvious avenue for recruiting participants is through the NHS database. However, you need to negotiate your way through the Data Protection Act. When you say "recruitment poster",  I guess you are referring to the "Project Information Leaflet". Correct me if I am wrong. A poster by definition would entail graphics rather than text.

Getting participants through friends may prove sticky in your write-up and you will have to explain why you chose them. Recruitment process is a big thing in research and should be seen to be replicable.

Hope this helps.

2 hours of someone's time is a lot - patients usually get something to reimburse them for their time. With drs, it's likely to be more tricky. Glad to hear one of your supervisors has experience. That should help a lot. Good luck!

What about organisations like INVOLVE? You could ask them to include you in their next newsletter/on their website?

I'm doing mixed methods too involving patients and HPs, I'm able to recruit from the surgery. What about asking doctors/nurses to pass on questionnaires/invites to patients with the relevant illnesses?

Local support groups/council provisions etc might also be worth looking into.

I agree with Smilodon. 2 hours sounds like a lot to participants although I intended on doing 20 minute brief interviews as part of mine and some went on past an hour. People like to talk about their illnesses generally but they don't like the sound of committing to that kind of length of time.

Good luck