Abstract
BackgroundTraditionally, postal surveys or face to face interviews are the main approaches for health researchers to obtain essential research data. However, with the prevalence of information technology and Internet, Web-based surveys are gaining popularity in health research.ObjectiveThis study aims to report the process and outcomes of recruiting Chinese migrants through social network sites in Australia and to examine the sample characteristics of online recruitment by comparing the sample which was recruited by an online survey to a sample of Australian Chinese migrants collected by a postal survey.MethodsDescriptive analyses were performed to describe and compare the process and outcomes of online recruitment with postal survey questionnaires. Chi square tests and t tests were performed to assess the differences between the two samples for categorical and continuous variables respectively.ResultsIn total, 473 Chinese migrants completed the online health survey from July to October 2013. Out of 426 participants recruited through the three Chinese social network sites in Australia, over 86.6% (369/426) were recruited within six weeks. Participants of the Web-based survey were younger, with a higher education level or had resided in Australia for less time compared to those recruited via a postal survey. However, there was no significant difference in gender, marital status, and professional occupation.ConclusionsThe recruitment of Chinese migrants through social network sites in our online survey was feasible. Compared to a postal survey of Chinese migrants, the online survey attracted different group of Chinese migrants who may have diverse health needs and concerns. Our findings provided insightful information for researchers who are considering employing a Web-based approach to recruit migrants and ethnic minority participants.
Highlights
Migrant and ethnic minority groups often have poorer self-perceived health status than the general population, and recruiting participants from those groups for health research is challenging [1]
This paper summarizes the outcomes of recruiting Chinese migrants through social network sites and examines the sample characteristics of online recruitment by comparing the sample which was recruited by an online survey with the sample collected by a postal survey respectively amongst the Australian Chinese migrant communities
While online recruiting was set to be closed on September 30th, 2013, notices were not removed from the SNSs after the closing date, and we still received a few completed questionnaires, which were included in the final total number of participants
Summary
Migrant and ethnic minority groups often have poorer self-perceived health status than the general population, and recruiting participants from those groups for health research is challenging [1]. Especially those who were originally from non-English speaking countries, are likely to be underrepresented in population-based national health http://www.researchprotocols.org/2015/2/e46/ XSLFO RenderX. With the rapid development of information technology, Internet-based surveys are gaining popularity in health research projects [5]. It is expected that such surveys will become a promising alternative approach for recruiting research participants in health research realms [6]. Many health studies in migrants and ethnic minorities have adopted purposeful sampling methods to recruit participants in specific premises including clinics, churches, and community centers [7,8]. With the prevalence of information technology and Internet, Web-based surveys are gaining popularity in health research
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