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Recruitment Issues in School‐Based Research: Lessons Learned from the High 5 Alabama Project
Author(s) -
Harrington Kathleen F.,
Binkley Dianne,
Reynolds Kim D.,
Duvall Ruth C.,
Copeland John R.,
Franklin Frank,
Raczynski James
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of school health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.851
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1746-1561
pISSN - 0022-4391
DOI - 10.1111/j.1746-1561.1997.tb01287.x
Subject(s) - incentive , medical education , sample (material) , psychology , population , school district , medicine , pedagogy , environmental health , chemistry , chromatography , economics , microeconomics
School‐based research requires a multi‐level recruitment process to ensure an adequate sample. This article describes the High 5 Alabama recruitment experience at four levels: district, school, classroom and individual. One hundred percent of 28 schools across three districts and 108 classroom teachers contacted agreed to participate. Moderate success (69%) at the individual level, which required active parental consent for the student and parent to participate, resulted in 1,698 student/parent participants. An examination of differences between participants and nonparticipants revealed under‐representation of a subsample of the population in the project sample. Suggestions obtained from project staff and teachers intended to enhance future school‐based recruitment strategies include enlistment of a district advocate; meeting with teachers to solicit support; using incentives with students and teachers; direct contact with parents; having teachers keep rosters of students returning consent forms; and tailoring recruitment strategies for specific subpopulations.