Abstract
BackgroundRespondent-driven sampling (RDS) is a method successfully used to research hard-to-access populations. Few studies have explored the use of the Internet and social media with RDS, known as Web-based RDS (WebRDS). This study explored the use of combining both “traditional” RDS and WebRDS to examine the influences on adolescent alcohol use.ObjectiveThis paper reports on the recruitment processes and the challenges and enablers of both RDS and WebRDS. It details comparative recruitment data and provides a summary of the utility of both methods for recruiting adolescents to participate in an online survey investigating youth alcohol norms.MethodsProcess evaluation data collected from research staff throughout the study were used to assess the challenges and solutions of RDS and WebRDS. Pearson chi-square test (Fisher’s exact test if applicable) was used to compare the differences in sociodemographics and drinking behavior between data collected by RDS and WebRDS.ResultsOf the total sample (N=1012), 232 adolescents were recruited by RDS and 780 by WebRDS. A significantly larger proportion of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (P<.001) participants who spoke English as their main language at home (P=.03), and of middle and lower socioeconomic status (P<.001) was found in the RDS sample. The RDS sample was also found to have a higher occurrence of past 7-day drinking (P<.001) and past 7-day risky drinking (P=.004). No significant differences in gender, age, past month alcohol use, and lifetime alcohol use were observed between the RDS and WebRDS samples. This study revealed RDS and WebRDS used similar lengths of chains for recruiting participants; however, WebRDS conducted a faster rate of recruitment at a lower average cost per participant compared to RDS.ConclusionsUsing WebRDS resulted in significant improvements in the recruitment rate and was a more effective and efficient use of resources than the traditional RDS method. However, WebRDS resulted in partially different sample characteristics to traditional RDS. This potential effect should be considered when selecting the most appropriate data collection method.
Highlights
Research has shown that respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is a viable method to recruit individuals from hard-to-access populations for which no sampling frame exists [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
This paper describes the adaptive and iterative methods from a study using Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) and Web-based RDS (WebRDS) to recruit a sample of youth aged 14 to 17 years exploring alcohol-related norms and behaviors using an online survey
A total of 143 seeds (75/143, 52.4% in RDS; 68/143, 47.5% in WebRDS) were recruited and completed the survey in both sampling methods, resulting in 869 valid participants recruited through the referral process (157/869, 18.1% in RDS; 712/869, 81.9% in WebRDS) (Figure 2)
Summary
Research has shown that respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is a viable method to recruit individuals from hard-to-access populations (eg, drug users and sex workers) for which no sampling frame exists [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Zablotska et al [22], in their comparison of data collection methods, concluded that their RDS sample was the most consistent to population estimates, but that it was complex and logistically demanding compared to time-location and online recruitment, which were more cost-effective and easier to implement. It details comparative recruitment data and provides a summary of the utility of both methods for recruiting adolescents to participate in an online survey investigating youth alcohol norms. WebRDS resulted in partially different sample characteristics to traditional RDS This potential effect should be considered when selecting the most appropriate data collection method
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