Identifying language can contribute to opportunities, barriers, or social expectations. Ellard-Gray, Jeffrey, Choubak, & Crann (2015) engaged LGBTQIA+ populations and found that the language individuals in this community used to self-identify varied across race, culture, age, educational level, political affiliation, and geographic location.
Researchers can tailor language for recruitment and consenting materials that best suit their target population. For example, researchers should:
- Strive for inclusive language to fit within their population target parameters and expand eligibility requirements to include as many self-identification labels as possible.
- On recruitment flyers, consider phrases like “conversation” and “dialogue” (Shedline et al,. 2011).
- Avoid stigmatizing language in recruitment materials.
- Consult local community members to identify any terms or phrases that may be perceived as stigmatizing to a certain community as they may not be obvious to an outside researcher.
When engaging vulnerable populations, researchers should emphasize confidentiality and privacy considerations, especially if members of the group are not publicly identified. Researchers can advertise the study activities in discrete or safe spaces. For example, individuals who identify as LGBTQIA+ may prefer study recruitment and participation in places that protect their privacy and confidentiality).
New and True Recruitment Strategies
- Partner with churches, community organizations, community-based clinic sites
- Engage in community outreach as it has the advantage of potentially alleviating distrust
- Rely on gatekeepers (Sutton, Erlen, Glad, & Siminoff, 2003).
- Use social marketing campaigns
Immersion with the community in order to build rapport with potential participants can advance the recruitment process. This procedure may be facilitated by community partners representative of the target population.
Dr. Prerna Arora, Health & Behavior Studies
Associate Professor of Psychology and Education
Karissa Lim, Ph.D. Candidate
School Mental Health Minoritized Youth & Families Lab Research Assistant
In a 15-30 minute interview, Jona Avdiu, an IRB Research Writing & Ethics Intern, met Dr. Prerna Arora, the director of the School Mental Health for Minoritized Youth and Families (SMILE) Research Lab, and Ph.D. Candidate Karissa Lim to discuss recruiting individuals from minoritized populations. Dr. Arora and her doctoral student, Karissa Lim, spoke about their current research project, Promoting Positive School Climate Among Newcomer Immigrants. This study aims to address gaps in research regarding newcomer immigrant adolescents (NIAs) and cultural and developmental indicators that facilitate their social-emotional and academic growth in schools. Dr. Arora spoke about common barriers she encountered during the recruitment phase of her research, indicating that the population she works with has experienced numerous stressors in their lives, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Arora’s team developed and maintained strong relationships with community partners who worked directly with families and children. By forging trusting relationships, community partners helped conduct outreach. The research team gave back to the community by sharing aggregate data from their findings and hosting professional development events. Dr. Arora described the relationship with community partners as a two-way sharing of information.
Newcomer immigrant adolescents (NIAs) were asked to share sensitive lived experiences, with time and dedication going into gaining their trust. To do this, Dr. Arora and her team conducted a dive into the literature from the youth’s perspective of how to engage in research to shed light on reasons why youth choose to participate. Additionally, in order to maintain trust and acknowledge researcher positionality, Karrissa described that before the interviews began, all research assistants provided an identity statement in which they introduced themselves, their family’s country of origin, and where they grew up in the U.S.
Some issues the team faced included translating materials across 5 languages, recruiting participants from new organizations, and providing reimbursement in the form of physical gift cards to those facing housing insecurities or inconsistent housing. Despite the difficulties, Dr. Arora expressed the necessity of NIAs inclusion into research as this is a growing population in the U.S. Researchers hold the responsibility of addressing the needs of all children, not just those belonging to the Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) populations. In a similar vein, Karrissa elucidates that Black, Indigenous, (and) People of Color (BIPOC) students and immigrant youth are typically viewed from a deficit-based lens. This framework ignores the strengths inherent in this population such as resiliency and the desire to share their experiences to help fellow newcomers. As more research studies include this population, more strengths will be identified. As a second-generation immigrant herself, Dr. Arora wants to give back to her community through her research and encourages people from diverse backgrounds (not just minoritized ones) to help diversify the current state of research in psychology.
Improving Retention
Van Wijk (2014) outlines several strategies to improve the retention of vulnerable populations in longitudinal research.
- Maintain a trusting relationship between the researcher and participants, especially around the subject of confidentiality
- Be familiar with the complexity of the phenomena and the target population
- Remain respectful and tolerant of the community they are in
- Maintain an approachable, caring, and compassionate attitude toward the community
Strategies to Keep Participants Motivated
- Provide participants with information about the study in layman's terms and translate it to languages if necessary to make the study comprehensible and culturally appropriate.
- Provide refreshments for lengthy interviews.
- Schedule regular follow-up calls to remind participants about future appointments.
- Keep contact information up to date.
Strategies to Decrease Attrition
- Researchers should provide transportation reimbursements or arrange for transportation via church vans and school buses to accommodate participants of a low SES with inconsistent access to transportation.
- By reducing the requirements of transportation and external child care, two common deterrents to participation are removed.
- Record multiple forms of contact for participants, including phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Transient, homeless, or low-income populations without consistent access to phones or computers pose a challenge to scheduling follow-up appointments beyond recruitment. This can be mitigated by having contact persons such as community gatekeepers to aid in communication.
(Ellard-Gray et al., 2015)
Vulnerable and marginalized populations represent a wide spectrum of individuals. Due to this ubiquity, researchers should strive to include vulnerable populations in study designs. While doing so, researchers should consider sensitive and mindful approaches while navigating the research process from deciding upon tailored recruitment strategies to ensuring cultural competence.
Sources
Ellard-Gray, A., Jeffrey, N. K., Choubak, M., & Crann, S. E. (2015). Finding the Hidden Participant: Solutions for Recruiting Hidden, Hard-to-Reach, and Vulnerable Populations. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 14(5), 1609406915621420. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406915621420
Gordon, B. G. (2020). Vulnerability in Research: Basic Ethical Concepts and General Approach to Review. The Ochsner Journal, 20(1), 34–38. https://doi.org/10.31486/toj.19.0079
Lake, M., Majic, S., & Maxwell, R. (2019). Research on Vulnerable and Marginalized Populations (SSRN Scholarly Paper No. 3333511). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3333511
Sutton, L. B., Erlen, J. A., Glad, J. M., & Siminoff, L. A. (2003). Recruiting vulnerable populations for research: Revisiting the ethical issues. Journal of Professional Nursing, 19(2), 106–112. https://doi.org/10.1053/jpnu.2003.16
Park, S. S., & Grayson, M. H. (2008). Clinical research: Protection of the “vulnerable”? Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 121(5), 1103–1107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2008.01.014
UyBico, S. J., Pavel, S., & Gross, C. P. (2007). Recruiting Vulnerable Populations into Research: A Systematic Review of Recruitment Interventions. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 22(6), 852–863. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-007-0126-3
Van Wijk, E. (2014). Recruitment and Retention of Vulnerable Populations: Lessons Learned from a Longitudinal Qualitative Study. The Qualitative Report, 19, 1–21.