Recruitment and retention are key issues for applied research; this roundtable will discuss how to attract and retain study participants.
How can we identify the right people to participate in our studies, and then attract them to participate? What strategies can we use to then retain them for the life of the study?
Whether researchers are conducting case studies with a small number of teachers or using experimental designs with hundreds of participants, recruitment and retention are key issues for any applied research project. The objective of this roundtable is for participants to share their experiences about effective research strategies and why they have worked in that context. Together, the group will generate a list of practical tips for effective study recruitment and retention.
The facilitator will share her experiences with recruitment and retention during an applied research project on the impact of online teacher professional development. The project, Advancing Biology Education through Online Professional Development in New York State (ABE), is investigating the impact of an online course focused on teaching high school biology on teachers’ content and pedagogical knowledge and on their students’ knowledge of genetics and evolution, topics that were a focus of the course.
Data collection for ABE has taken place so far over two calendar years. Of the 144 original participants, 57 (about 40%) dropped from the study during the first year of data collection (July 2008–June 2009) and an additional 26 (about 18%) dropped during the second year of data collection (July 2009–May 2010), for a total attrition rate of 58 percent. Although participants dropped from the study at various time points, the attrition rate for both cohorts was highest during their enrollment in the online course. Others have seen similar trends in studies of online professional development for teachers.
The presenter will describe project recruitment strategies, share attrition data, and discuss the steps the project team took to retain teachers, with particular attention to lessons learned. Participants will be invited to share their experiences, including the challenges they have faced and the approaches they have taken. Together, the group will produce a list of practical strategies to implement, and pitfalls to try to avoid.