Skip to main content

Selection of Participants

Including diverse, representative samples leads to more comprehensive, conclusive, and applicable results that benefit all stakeholders. Researchers can make their projects more FAIR by moving away from convenience sampling. Instead, research teams should think about Chicagoland demographics to help inform recruitment and sampling strategies to include diversity in participants.  By having diverse participants in your study, the risks and benefits of research are shared by all.

Recruitment Strategies

Methods for improving participant outreach and equity and breaking down barriers for research participation include:

  • Use tools that maintain more diverse demographic samples for data collection (YouGov, Qualtrics Panels, eSurveys)
  • Extend clinical research opportunities after traditional business hours
  • Budget for participant parking and public transportation reimbursement
  • Devise methods to reach lower-income individuals without computers
  • Post flyers around the community including places such as:
    • Public bulletin boards (coffee shops, post offices, library, bus stop, grocery store)
    • Public health offices (Illinois Department of Human Services [IDHS]; Women, Infants, and Children [WIC])
    • Resource providing organizations (food pantries, libraries, clothing banks)
  • Inclusion of non-English speaking populations, assisted by translated participant-facing materials

Demographic & Identity Categories

The selection of participants is often carried out with consideration for the demographic and identity categories such as: race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, age, geography, and income.   This allows for a diverse sample.  However, it is crucial that investigators critically evaluate these categories, and the opportunities participants are given to identify themselves. We acknowledge that there often exists a tension between the need to reduce the number of response options to facilitate statistical analysis and the capture of accurate representations of identity.

Resources

There are many resources and thoughtful strategies available to integrate inclusive demographic and identity practices into research projects. We recommend the following resources to researchers interested in pursuing more inclusive strategies: