Using Social Networking and Social Media Resources for Research Recruitment

The purpose of this presentation is to describe professional social networking opportunities and social media resources for use in research participant recruitment including strategies that refine the researcher’s approach based on study need and limitations of media resources. In this presentation, participants will be apprised of the richness of the resources for research as well as search strategies which can maximize the desired subject recruitment. President Hester Klopper’s “connectedness” theme is reflected in this presentation as ways in which STTI could provide a means for research recruitment with the outcome of promoting and mentoring excellence in global nursing. The strategies for research recruitment that will be described and discussed are congruent with promoting and sustaining collaboration amongst diverse communities in order to enrich research and scholarship.

 

As the Digital Divide decreases and the Digital Age expands, the use of social networking and social media has exploded. According to the PEW Research Internet Project (2013), in the United States alone, 42% of online adults use multiple social networking sites with Facebook remaining the platform of choice. As of September 2013, 71% of online adults use Facebook, 17% use Instagram, 21% use Pinterest and 22% use LinkedIn (http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/)

A variety of social networking and social media resources may be used to communicate with others including members of the honor society. To date, STTI encompasses approximately 500 chapters in 675 institutions of higher education with over 135,000 members in 85 countries. This global diversity of nurses and potential participant referrals may serve as a ready population for a variety of nursing research studies.

 

The Circle is STTI’s primary method of chapter communication. Each chapter has its own web page within the Circle. There are a variety of Circle forums, Workgroups and Communities of Interest specific to Staffing Sharing, Role Clarity, Global Member Forum, Good Work in Nursing or nursing specialty topics such as critical care, community/public health, medical-surgical, emergency and cardiovascular nursing. The researcher can personally join any Circle to gain involvement with those members but must have a specific membership in a Workgroup for access to those individuals. For example, Chapter Officers within a Region will find a “Region X Chapter Officers Connect” Workgroup in their list of Circles automatically added by STTI Headquarters staff but this group is not available to other members. Nothing precludes collaboration between Regions for research subject recruitment but the Circle platform itself includes such limitations because of its intent to create the various exclusive common-interest groups for discussion purposes.

 

Research subject recruitment may also be done via Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Twitter has been shown in studies to be an effective recruitment tool (Mollett, Moran, & Dunleavy, 2011). A twitter account specific for a research study may be established. Currently, Twitter supports over 35 languages worldwide. It allows for a 140-character message or “tweet” that may include an invitation to participate in a research study. Photos and up-to-four videos may accompany the tweets including a link to a web page detailing the study or use of a hashtag(#). This message may be retweeted or passed on to others to further the recruitment population and ultimately the research sample. This process represents an adaptation of the snowball method of recruitment where identified individuals will then help to distribute the research question or purpose to those who may meet the criteria.

 

To use Facebook for research, the member would create a Facebook page for the research study. The PEW Report (2013) cites that Facebook users are more trusting than others and have more close relationships. These ideas may help to formalize use of Facebook within a sampling plan where these characteristics would fit the study content.

 

LinkedIn may also serve as a connection between nursing professionals (https://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=129370). This media resource has the potential of sample recruitment where search terms of interest may locate persons with the desired research criteria.

 

An example of a research study where the Circle was used for research recruitment will be presented along with its advantages and challenges. One of the original purposes of this qualitative study was to describe cultural differences of perspectives of “Good Work in Nursing” of members of two STTI Circles whose membership represented all six global regions. Although approximately 98% of STTI members reside in the North America (NA) Region, the databases afforded a good array of worldwide members in 30 countries. In the final sample of 20, 19 participants were from the NA Region which then precluded describing cultural differences in the sense of other world regions. Perspectives based on role difference which was another demographic characteristic afforded good qualitative themes and conclusions, however, the researcher learned some lessons which may facilitate the work of other researchers in the future.

 

Specifically, to reach potential participants in any certain Region, the Circle in use must be mined to identify those persons. To acquire or improve participation in a particular Region, it is possible to identify the geographical location of the Circle member directly in the member’s listing.  Those meeting a sample criterion can then be contacted and re-contacted for research purposes. There are also considerations that need to be made for follow-up of research participants. For example, is anonymity expected or does the researcher want to make additional contacts as in theme verification in a qualitative study?  Can the researcher avoid additional contacts in re-sending an invitation to join a study when the recipient has already responded? The logistics for managing these recruitment steps will be described in the presentation.

There are several inherent limitations of the sample drawn from the Circle populations. These considerations include self-selection bias, issues of language barriers, and using an internet-based system of research invitations which may be limited by availability of the Internet for the end-user/recipient.

 

In summary, social networking and social media resources and provisions for links to existing commercial sources can provide a wealth of support for sample recruitment in nursing research. Efforts to include worldwide participants supports the mission and vision of STTI towards transformation and excellence in global nursing.