Open AccessPerception of social value predicts participation in school‐based research
Author(s) -
Pound Bernadette,
Riddell Michaela,
Byrnes Graham,
Kelly Heath
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.946
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1753-6405
pISSN - 1326-0200
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-842x.2000.tb00508.x
Subject(s) - seroprevalence , perception , measles , psychology , multivariate analysis of variance , telephone survey , variance (accounting) , value (mathematics) , survey methodology , environmental health , medicine , vaccination , statistics , advertising , antibody , immunology , business , mathematics , accounting , pathology , serology , neuroscience
Objective: To investigate factors affecting the participation of schools in a serosurvey. Methods: A telephone interview was conducted with a representative of 80 schools (response rate 92%). The schools had been randomly selected to participate in a seroprevalence survey evaluating a measles vaccination campaign of Victorian school‐aged children in 1998. Results: Univariate analysis suggested that responses to the interview were not influenced by school level (primary/secondary), geographic location, funding source or participation in the seroprevalence survey. There was, however, a strong association of participation in the seroprevalence survey with the perception of value to students and the value to the community. Factor analysis identified two issues: the societal value and practical issues, which explained most of the variance in participation (pseudo R 2 –0.84). Conclusion: The perception of the benefits of the study strongly influenced the decision by school representatives to participate in the seroprevalence survey. Implications: Recruitment of schools for health‐related research may be improved if the number of research projects in schools is monitored and possibly restricted, and the social value of the research is emphasised.