Respondents

How and Where to Find Respondents

Researchers can look for a specific demographic, or open the research up to any respondent. When designing a survey, researchers may want a certain age bracket, gender, health-care situation, or sociocultural background. This contributes to how the researcher recruits respondents. Some respondents receive extra credit, for example, such as college students. This is common for researchers working at institutions of higher education due to convenience sampling. Faculty, staff, and graduate students have access to many students on campus, and with institutional review board (IRB) approval, can post signs around campus, send emails to classes, and advertise at events.

Some researchers utilize social media platforms to recruit respondents. Again, with IRB approval, ads are posted for recruiting individuals from various backgrounds to participate. For example, a researcher may be looking for divorced single moms for a survey. This may be more difficult to find on campus, so using social media and word of mouth can help recruit more participants to respond. Friends of friends can repost a recruitment ad and therefore help find more respondents for the survey.

When using unobtrusive observation, respondents can be easier to find. For example, if the [Page 1473]researcher wants to determine which exhibit in a museum is most visited by children, looking at fingerprints on the protective glass at a child’s height can help determine the answer. This is a simple solution to determine which exhibit kids are looking closely at, yet no recruitment is required.

Some respondents answer a notice or call of research participation. There may or may not be a reward or gift, or possibility of gaining a gift for participating. For example, the researcher may offer a gift card for a local restaurant or store to entice participation. Respondents can come forward to earn this gift for participating in the interview. Or, the researcher may draw a name or names to win a larger prize for participation from all respondents who were part of the study. Respondents may participate given the topic of the research, or the interest in gaining something for participating.

In health-care research, hospitals and clinics send out surveys to determine the use of their services, quality of care, and how patients evaluate their doctor. Participation is not mandatory, but mailing notices out helps solicit respondents through pen-and-paper format, especially with return envelopes that include postage paid. Responding to such surveys can be done by patients of that particular clinic who may be randomly selected to participate in providing feedback.

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