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internal resources, you may choose to
recruit in one of the following ways:
• Use your own organization’s staff to
recruit participants.
• Hire a focus group facility or independent
recruiter (to identify such facilities, consult
a directory such as the American
Marketing Association’s Green Book or
the Marketing Research Association’s
Blue Book). If you have many facilities
and recruiters to choose from, consider
getting recommendations from local
corporations or organizations that conduct
qualitative research.
• Get help from a university marketing
research or advertising class.
• Work through gatekeepers such as
teachers (for students), health care
providers (for patients, physicians, or
nurses), religious institutions or
community organizations (a small
donation may encourage them to
participate), and instructors of English as
a second language.
Regardless of how the recruiting is done,
ensure that the screener is followed
carefully so that only individuals who qualify
for participation will be included.
Getting People to Show Up
To ensure that enough people show up, offer
an incentive (usually money) and recruit two
or three more people than you actually
need. If all show up, select those who best
fit the screening criteria, thank the extra
participants, give them the agreed-upon
incentive, and dismiss them. Other ways to
increase participation include:
• Scheduling sessions at times that are
convenient for your potential participants
(e.g., at lunch or after work)
• Choosing a safe and convenient site with
easy parking
• Providing transportation (or
reimbursement for agreed-upon
transportation costs)
• Arranging for childcare, if necessary
• Letting them know you will be
serving refreshments
Recruiting Patients and Their Families
Recruiting patients and their families
requires special consideration. Contact
clinics, hospitals, or local HMOs for help
and make adequate plans to ensure that
the participants and their family members
are not inconvenienced or upset. Some
organizations may require institutional
review board (IRB) approval of your
research. Gaining IRB approval is often a
long process, so be sure you check with the
organization early in the planning stage of
your study to find out whether you will need
IRB approval.
Recruiting for Telephone Interviews
If you are recruiting for in-depth interviews to
be conducted on the telephone, create a
spreadsheet that includes spaces for the
following information about each potential
participant:
• Time zone in which the person is located
• Date, time, and telephone number at
which he or she should be called for
the interview
• Disposition of each call (e.g., scheduled
an interview, no answer, busy, refused)
Develop a Moderator’s Guide
The moderator’s guide tells the moderator
what information you want from the groups
and helps him or her keep the discussion on
track and on time. It is only a guide,
however. During the focus groups,
METHODS
Making Health Communication Programs Work 137