Traditional Recruitment Methods Research Articles

Ethnic Diversity and Effectiveness Recruitment Exercise in Delta State Public Service

The nature of contemporary democratic governments has evolved significantly. This transformation is attributed to the increasing responsibility placed on the government to ensure the well-being of a larger portion of the population. This characteristic of the constitution reflects the social contract theory, compelling the government to fulfill expectations by appointing qualified and competent individuals to public service roles. This paper explores the challenges arising from the influences of ethnic diversity, which tend to undermine the adherence to merit principles in the recruitment processes of the Delta State Public Service. The study is grounded in the Weberian bureaucratic model, offering recommendations to address the issues affecting the effectiveness of recruitment exercises in the Delta State Public Service due to primordial factors. One key recommendation is the implementation of measures that prioritize merit over traditional recruitment methods. Specifically, the paper suggests that the recruitment process should be based on the expertise of recognized professionals in the respective fields, aiming to hire the necessary staff while avoiding an excess of personnel in the system.

CAN‐THUMBS UP: Recruitment in the Virtual Era

AbstractBackgroundThe Brain Health Support Program (BHSP) of the CAN‐Thumbs Up Study is an online, interactive educational intervention designed to increase dementia literacy, self‐efficacy and address modifiable lifestyle risk factors. Recruiting for a virtual study presented both opportunities and challenges. This included the need to attract participants through means beyond referrals from medical clinics, as well as opportunities to reach geographically diverse Canadian population less feasible with in‐person evaluations.MethodsA comprehensive recruitment strategy for a virtual environment was implemented. A central website provided any interested candidate with study information, and a link to register and provide basic demographic information via a secure form. Potential participants were directed to the website via traditional recruitment through CCNA specialty clinics or existing cohorts, through geotargeting mailing to specific target populations throughout Canada, social medial advertising, partner organizations, and a coordinated National press release.ResultsThe study had an 8‐month open recruitment window. During this time 964 participants agreed to be contacted through our online portal. Of these, 18‐81 were consented to enroll in the study per month. A total of 7,569 geotargeted postcards were sent, with 153 individuals agreeing to be contacted for the study (2%). Social media advertising generated 974 clicks, with 6.8% subsequently agreeing to be contacted for more information. The majority of participants enrolled in the study came from existing clinical cohorts, CCNA clinical sites, and partner organizations. The recruitment cohort was from a diverse geographical location, 45% urban, 35% suburban, and 20% rural. Overall, the target cohort of 350 subjects was successfully enrolled by the end of the recruitment period.ConclusionRecruitment for the BHSP intervention demonstrates the value of relatively underutilized clinical trials recruitment strategies, such as geotargeted mailing, and social media advertising. We also show the value of a centralized web site for initial screening of interested participants. While traditional recruitment methods still directed the majority of participants to the recruitment website, geotargeted mailing, social advertising, partner organizations, and earned media can all be scaled up, and will likely play a major role in future recruitments efforts in the broader CAN‐Thumbs Up Study.

Snapshot of utilization of mobile research units for community screening with an emphasis in reaching previously underserved and underrepresented communities strategically across Central Florida

AbstractBackgroundIncreasing diversity in clinical trials requires intentionality and strategic planning. Traditional recruitment methods do not address barriers resulting in statistics supporting the majority of clinical trial participants being Caucasian, Non‐Hispanic males1. Identified barriers for these diverse populations in research include lack of knowledge on clinical trials, transportation, language and trust2.Effective methods to reach diverse communities require an “out of the box” thinking, intentionality, and creativity. By utilizing a Mobile Research Unit and bringing research to participants, sites are able to breakdown some of these barriers to better serve historically underserved and underrepresented populations.MethodA Mobile Research Unit was utilized in underserved and underrepresented areas which the site had built rapport with. During the time the Mobile Research Unit is in use, site staff engaged with the community by educating participants and by doing a hands‐on meaningful activity. Memory and/or blood base biomarkers were administered to patients who qualified.Result171 participants were screened for studies over a period of 4 months utilizing a mobile research unit. 42% of those screened are from diverse populations. 59% of those who screened were identified to be at risk and eligible for further screening.ConclusionBy breaking down some of the identified barriers, K2 was able to achieve better outcomes than what is typically seen in research of diverse populations. Utilizing the Mobile Research Unit and bringing research to participants allowed K2 to strengthen community connections and take some of the burden off participants. K2 will continue to support initiatives in enrolling diverse populations and employing tactics learned while supporting the Mobile Research Unit.

Challenges and Opportunities in Recruiting Research Participants Using Facebook: Lessons Learned from an Exemplar Study.

Facebook is a prominent social medial platform frequently used for business marketing. Researchers are starting to recognize the utility of this platform for developing research awareness, information dissemination, and more recently participant recruitment. This paper will provide an overview of methods used in Facebook recruitment through an exemplar study. It will highlight successes and challenges and provide insight into future opportunities for its' use. Two methods of Facebook recruitment are outlined in this paper: the use of Facebook groups and paid advertising. A step-by-step guide highlights how researchers can implement these specific methods of Facebook recruitment. Facebook was successfully utilized to recruit participants in the exemplar study. Recruitment was completed over a period of 82 days with a total cost of $157.09 Canadian dollars. Facebook is a viable method of recruiting research participants. This method can be cost-effective, timely, and efficient in comparison to traditional research recruitment methods. However, one must balance the benefits and challenges of this type of recruitment.

Effectiveness of Facebook Groups and Pages on Participant Recruitment Into a Randomized Controlled Trial During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Descriptive Study.

In response to the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, conventional recruitment approaches were halted, causing the suspension of numerous clinical trials. Previously, Facebook (Meta Platforms, Inc) has emerged as a promising tool for augmenting participant recruitment. While previous research has explored the use of Facebook for surveys and qualitative studies, its potential for recruiting participants into randomized controlled trials (RCTs) remains underexplored. This study aimed to comprehensively examine the effectiveness of using Facebook groups and pages to facilitate participant recruitment during the COVID-19 pandemic for an RCT on the effectiveness of a remote parenting program, 1-2-3 Magic, in families who have children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the United Kingdom. We disseminated 5 Facebook posts with an attached digital flyer across 4 prominent ADHD UK support groups and pages run by the National Attention Deficit Disorder Information and Support Services, reaching an audience of around 16,000 individuals over 2 months (January 7 to March 4, 2022). Eligibility criteria mandated participants to be parents or caregivers of a child with diagnosed ADHD aged 12 years or younger, be residing in the United Kingdom, have access to stable internet, and have a device with the Zoom (Zoom Video Communications) app. Participants were required to have never attended 1-2-3 Magic training previously. Prospective participants expressed their interest through Microsoft Forms (Microsoft Corporation). The trial aimed to recruit 84 parents. It is important to note that the term "parent" or "caregiver" in the RCT and in this study within a trial refers to anybody who has legal responsibility for the child. Overall, 478 individuals registered their interest through Microsoft Forms within the stipulated 2-month window. After the eligibility check, 135 participants were contacted for a baseline meeting through Zoom. The first 84 participants who attended a baseline meeting and returned a completed consent form were enrolled. Subsequently, another 16 participants were added, resulting in a final sample of 100 participants. This recruitment strategy incurred negligible expenses and demanded minimal human resources. The approach yielded favorable outcomes by efficiently attracting eligible participants in a condensed time frame, transcending geographical barriers throughout the United Kingdom, which would have been tedious to achieve through traditional recruitment methods. Our experience demonstrated that digital flyers posted in the targeted Facebook groups were a cost-effective and quick method for recruiting for an RCT, which opened during the COVID-19 pandemic when lockdown restrictions were in place in the United Kingdom. Trialists should consider this low-cost recruitment intervention for trials going forward, and in the case of a global pandemic, this novel recruitment method enabled the trial to continue where many have failed. International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN) 15281572; https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN15281572.

A Study of Job Seekers’ Perceptions of the Job Portals in Sri Lanka: With Special Reference to “Millennials” and Generation “Z”

In today's digital age, organizations are relying more on online platforms to recruit job applicants instead of using traditional recruitment methods. Organizations are adapting their practices to meet the needs of younger workers. However, the perceptions of these job seekers towards job portals may vary depending on several factors. Thus, the purpose of this study was to identify the factors that influence the perceptions of young job seekers toward job portals. The study used the quantitative research approach and data was collected through a survey questionnaire from a sample of 250 young job seekers. The findings of the study revealed that information quality, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived trustworthiness, and extended services have a significant influence on young job seekers' perceptions of job portals. Extended services, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and information quality seem to be the strongest predictors out of the five variables. This leads to the conclusion that job portal providers must pay close attention to their online recruiting simplicity, quality of information, and extended services if they want to attract additional clients. Companies should also prioritize offering accurate and comprehensive job descriptions and making sure the portals are user-friendly. The implications of the study provide valuable insights for job portal providers to enhance their services and increase their user base among young job seekers. This study provides practical and theoretical insights for job portal service providers, companies, and individuals seeking employment.

Nominal Versus Realized Costs of Recruiting and Retaining a National Sample of Sexual Minority Adolescents in the United States: Longitudinal Study.

Web-based recruitment for research studies is becoming increasingly popular and necessary. When compared with the traditional methods of recruitment, these methods may enable researchers to reach more diverse participants in less time. Social media use is highly prevalent among adolescents, and the unique context of social media may be particularly important for the recruitment of sexual minority young people who would not be captured by traditional methods. This paper described the details of a national web-based study recruitment approach aimed at sexual minority adolescents across the United States, focusing on important details of this relatively novel approach, including cost, time efficiency, and retention outcomes. This study recruited sexual minority adolescents aged 14-17 years living in the United States through targeted advertisements on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and through respondent-driven sampling (RDS). Potential participants completed eligibility screening surveys and were automatically directed to a baseline survey if they were eligible. After baseline survey completion, additional data checks were implemented, and the remaining participants were contacted for recruitment into a longitudinal study (surveys every 6 months for 3 years). Recruitment lasted 44 weeks, and 9843 participants accessed the initial screening survey, with 2732 (27.76%) meeting the eligibility criteria and completing the baseline survey. Of those, 2558 (93.63%) were determined to have provided nonfraudulent, usable study data and 1076 (39.39%) subsequently enrolled in the longitudinal study. Of the baseline sample, 79.05% (2022/2558) was recruited through Facebook and Instagram, 3.05% (78/2558) through YouTube, and 17.9% (458/2558) through RDS. The average cost of recruiting a participant into the study was US $12.98, but the recruitment cost varied by method or platform, with a realized cost of US $13 per participant on Facebook and Instagram, US $24 on YouTube, and US $10 through RDS. Participant differences (sex assigned at birth, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, region, and urbanicity) were identified between platforms and methods both in terms of overall number of participants and cost per participant. Facebook and Instagram were the most time efficient (approximately 15 days to recruit 100 participants), whereas RDS was the least time efficient (approximately 70 days to recruit 100 participants). Participants recruited through YouTube were the most likely to be longitudinally retained, followed by Facebook and Instagram, and then RDS. Large differences exist in study recruitment cost and efficiency when using social media and RDS. Demographic, region, and urbanicity differences in recruitment methods highlight the need for attention to demographic diversity when planning and implementing recruitment across platforms. Finally, it is more cost-effective to retain than recruit samples, and this study provided evidence that with thorough screening and data quality practices, social media recruitment can result in diverse, highly involved study populations.

How to Optimize Your Recruitment for Post Pandemic?

As the world recovers from the COVID-19 crisis, the world economy is still in flux. Many jobs disappeared from the scene as many organizations adjust their workforce. Attracting the best skills and best talent has also been a challenge for many organizations. Traditional recruitment methods are outdated, and our recommendation is to move to use a competency and knowledge-based recruitment process. The competency and knowledge-based method of recruitment revolutionizes the process of recruiting and attracting future human resources for the organization and brings extraordinary results. Results such as developing innovation and assembling a pool of top talent to better meet the ever-increasing needs of today's ever-changing business environment will be enhanced with this new process.

Recruitment Strategies for a Changing Research Landscape

In the wake of a changing research landscape, through an increase of digital and online studies and narratives surrounding generalisability, it is important for researchers to adapt their recruitment strategies. This article presents some hints and tips for traditional and non-traditional methods of recruitment and weighs up the pros and cons of these methods, drawing on previous research. Each study is unique in its recruitment needs, and so this roundup draws on strategies to serve a number of different project types.

A practical guide to implementing a successful social media recruitment strategy: lessons from the Eczema Monitoring Online trial

BackgroundParticipant recruitment into clinical trials remains challenging. The global increase in the number of social media users has accelerated the use of social media as a modality of recruitment, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic when traditional recruitment methods were reduced. However, there is limited evidence on the performance of social media recruitment strategies into eczema clinical trials.MethodsFrom September 2021 to January 2022, we recruited participants with eczema into an online randomised controlled trial using free advertising on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Reddit (unpaid methods), followed by paid Facebook advertisements (paid method). Unpaid methods were used periodically for 63 days, whilst the paid method for 16 days. Interested individuals who clicked on the advertisement link were directed to the study website, where they could sign up to participate. Consenting, randomisation and data collection occurred exclusively online, using a database management web platform. Evaluation of the social media recruitment methods was performed, including the number of expression of interests, enrolment yield, cost, baseline characteristics and retention.ResultsOur multi-platform based social media recruitment strategy resulted in 400 expressions of interests, leading to 296 participants. Unpaid methods accounted for 136 (45.9%) of participants, incurring no financial cost. Paid Facebook adverts reached 154,370 individuals, resulting in 123 (41.6%) trial participants for a total cost of £259.93 (£2.11 per participant) and other recruitment methods resulted in 37 (12.5%) enrolments. Paid advertisements predominantly attracted younger participants below the age of 20, whereas unpaid methods mainly drew in participants between 20–29 years of age. The social media platforms recruited an ethnically diverse participant population. Completion rate of follow-up was slightly higher for the paid method (n = 103, 83.7%) compared with the unpaid methods (n = 111, 81.6%).ConclusionsUnpaid social media posts recruited the most participants; however, it was time consuming for the researcher. Paid Facebook adverts rapidly recruited a large number of participants for a low cost and provided flexibility to target specific audiences. Our findings indicate that social media is an efficient tool that can potentially support recruitment to clinical trials.Trial registrationISRCTN45167024. Registered on 29 June 2021.

Technology-assisted adaptive recruitment strategy for a large nation-wide COVID-19 vaccine immunogenicity study in Brunei.

A national study was conducted in Brunei to assess and compare the immunogenicity of the various brands of COVID-19 vaccines administered to the population as part of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Programme. Most of the population have had received at least 2 doses of BBIBP-CorV, AZD1222 or MRNA-1273 vaccines. Neutralising antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 induced by these vaccines will be analysed to infer population-level immune protection against COVID-19. During the 5-week recruitment period, 24,260 eligible individuals were invited to the study via SMS, out of which 2,712 participants were enrolled into the study. This paper describes the novel adaptive strategy used to recruit the study participants. Digital technology was leveraged to perform targeted online recruitment to circumvent the limitations of traditional recruitment methods. Technology also enabled stratified random selection of these eligible individuals who were stratified based on age, gender and vaccine brand. Data was extracted from the electronic health records, the national mobile health application and a third-party survey platform and integrated into a dedicated research platform called EVYDResearch. The instant availability and access to up-to-date data on EVYDResearch enabled the study team to meet weekly and adopt an adaptive recruitment strategy informed by behavioural science, where interventions could be quickly implemented to improve response rates. Some examples of these include incorporating nudge messaging into SMS invitations, involving the Minister of Health to make press announcements on this study, media coverage, setting up an enquiries hotline and reaching out to foreign language speaking expatriates of a local multinational company to participate in this study. Data integration from various data sources, real time information sharing and a strong teamwork led to good outcomes adaptable to the progress of recruitment, compared to the more time-consuming and static traditional recruitment methods.

METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO RECRUITTING IN NATIONAL COMPANIES OF KAZAKHSTAN

The article describes the main traditional and modern methods of recruitment, examines the features of hiring in national companies of Kazakhstan, reveals the current problems of recruiting and suggests ways to solve them.

Social Media as a Recruitment Strategy with Transgender-Identified Individuals: Using an Ethical Lens to Direct Methodology.

Introduction: Researchers are limited when using traditional recruitment methods to access hidden and vulnerable populations, including transgender persons. Social media platforms such as Facebook can provide access to the transgender population and facilitate recruitment of a representative sample. There is little regulatory guidance for using social media as a recruitment strategy. Methodology: This article presents recruitment recommendations based on a study that generated a diverse sample of transgender-identified persons using Facebook as the sole recruitment method. Results: Despite taking precautions, computer bots penetrated the initial survey. A second survey distribution collected data from a diverse sample of transgender-identified individuals. Discussion: Researchers should design social media recruitment methods with attention to privacy and transparency. Thus, using social media platforms such as Facebook to recruit transgender participants that otherwise would be challenging to reach is a viable and ethically sound alternative to traditional recruitment methods.

Cross border HRM challenges of Chinese companies: An exploratory study

With the growing footmark of Chinese MNCs around the globe, the management of the host country employees has been a new challenge on the horizon. The study aims to understand the human resource management and cross-cultural practices and challenges faced by Chinese companies across the border. This cross-sectional and exploratory study used semi-structured interviews and focus groups for the data collection. The respondents were Chinese managers from Chinese companies and Chinese cultural centres working in Pakistan. This study used thematic analysis with triangulation of sources and methods. This study found culture as a key theme affecting all the emerging human resource management themes. Chinese companies working in Pakistan use informal social networks in addition to traditional applicant recruitment methods. Cultural training is common along with technical training in particularly state-owned Chinese enterprises. Although in many Chinese companies, the parent country nationals fill top positions, local employees could be seen working in the top tier management of some Chinese companies. The Chinese companies’ management practices have not been paid much attention to in this region. This study enables us to develop deep insights into Chinese companies’ human resource management practices and challenges. This research also contributes to the literature on international human resource management and cross-cultural management.

Are Your Participants Real? Dealing with Fraud in Recruiting Older Adults Online.

The internet offers exciting opportunities for quick, cost-efficient, and widespread recruitment and data collection without face-to-face contact. Previous research has demonstrated success in reaching population subgroups not typically included in traditional recruitment methods, yet challenges in data quality protection remain paramount. This article describes using Amazon Mechanical Turk, Facebook groups, and email distribution lists to recruit older adults who live alone for a quantitative study using a cross-sectional online survey. Fraudulent survey takers became a major concern in this study, and a protocol was developed to identify and exclude suspicious data. Of 738 recorded participants, 117 responses were retained in the final sample. The majority of sham responses were collected from Facebook with the fewest number of issues identified in responses collected via targeted emailing. Implications for survey design, data analysis, and future research are discussed.

Occurrence Patterns of Traumatic Brain Injury Within the Emergency Department and Internal Screening Process Efficacy During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Retrospective Analysis.

BackgroundTraumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of death in pediatric patients. Continued recruitment of pediatric TBI participants into a biobank amidst the COVID-19 pandemic not only necessitates adaptive changes to traditional recruitment methods but also requires an evaluation of emergency department (ED) utilization by TBI-presenting patients.ObjectiveThe primary objective of this exploratory retrospective study was to evaluate pediatric TBI-related ED utilization during the pandemic. The secondary objective was to appraise the efficacy of the research team’s internal screening processes.MethodsPotential participants (ie, individuals who met all inclusion criteria and would be approached by a consenter) were screened from an ED’s electronic health record system. Data regarding their visit were recorded in a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act–compliant manner, which were cleaned through Google Sheets. Cleaned data were then coded as either a screening variable or a hospital utilization variable to examine the effects of the pandemic on internal operations and hospital utilization patterns. The variables were compared between select months during the pandemic in 2020 to analogous months in 2019 in the R programming language via the two-sample Student t test and the Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon rank-sum test.ResultsThe sample (N=2321) consisted of 1245 entries from 2019 and 1076 entries from 2020. A significantly greater proportion of potential participants (P<.001) were identified in 2020 (222/633, 35.1%) than in 2019 (195/908, 21.4%). A significantly greater proportion of potential participants (P<.001) had a visit reason indicative of a TBI in 2020 (181/222, 81.5%) than in 2019 (103/195, 52.8%). A significantly greater proportion of these injuries (P=.02) occurred inside (39/181, 21.5%) in 2020 than in 2019 (11/103, 10.7%). No significant difference was found across the mechanism of injury categories reported for potential participants between 2019 and 2020. Potential participants were significantly older (P=.006) in 2019 (mean 8.93 years) than in 2020 (mean 7.31 years). Screeners spent significantly longer (P=.03) to identify potential participants in March 2020 (55 minutes) than in March 2019 (32 minutes), but spent significantly less time (P=.01) to do so in July 2020 (22 minutes) than in July 2019 (42 minutes). Screening coverage was significantly lower (P<.001) in March 2020 (241.8 hours) than in March 2019 (346.5 hours). Screening coverage was significantly greater (P<.001) in April 2020 (611.5 hours) and July 2020 (513.5 hours) than in April 2019 (470.5 hours) and July 2019 (404.3 hours), respectively.ConclusionsThere was a significant increase in the rate of incoming TBI cases to the ED during the COVID-19 pandemic, warranting continued enrollment with added safety measures. Additionally, refinement of internal processes improved the accuracy of data collection. As demonstrated in this study, researchers can leverage ongoing data collection to facilitate process improvements and evaluate the impact of unexpected global events on their research.

Use of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for recruiting healthy participants in nutrition-, physical activity–, or obesity-related studies: a systematic review

There are limited systematic reviews exploring the use of social media for recruiting participants specifically for nutrition-, physical activity-, and obesity-related studies. The aim was to conduct a systematic review on the effectiveness of using social media (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) for recruiting healthy participants in nutrition-, physical activity-, or obesity-related studies. Studies were identified from 5 databases and included if they reported the number of participants recruited by social media (Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter) vs. traditional (print, e-mail, etc.). The effectiveness of recruitment was compared between methods by study procedures (in-person vs. online procedures). The cost-effectiveness of methods was also explored. The protocol was published in the Prospero database (ID# CRD42020204414). Twenty-six studies were included. Among studies with both types of recruitment methods, 49% of the sample was reached through traditional methods, 40% through social media, and the rest by other methods. For in-person study procedures, the median number of participants recruited using social media was 19 (range: 3-278) and for online study procedures, it was 298 (range: 3-17,069). Median recruitment cost using social media (n=14 studies) was $11.90 (range: $0-517) per participant, while this varied considerably for traditional methods depending on how it was calculated ($214, $18.9-$777). The ratio of participants reached vs. recruited was 0.12%; the overall ratio of participants interactions vs. recruited was 21.2%. For in-person study procedures, traditional recruitment methods were more effective than social media, but for online study procedures, about half reported that social media was more effective. While more potential participants were reached through social media, only 21.2% of those who interacted with ads were enrolled. With the increased use of social media, their use for recruitment may be more frequent; therefore, future reviews may show different results.

Enterprise Human Resources Recruitment Management Model in the Era of Mobile Internet

In view of the low quality, low efficiency, and excessive restrictions of traditional talent recruitment and management methods, which can no longer meet the needs of talent recruitment and management under the current new economic situation, this urgent problem needs to be solved. With the development of mobile communication, intelligent terminal, and Internet technology, human resource signboard management is gradually transformed into the Internet model. This paper adopts the enterprise human resource recruitment management mode in the mobile Internet era. In order to prove the effectiveness of the algorithm proposed in this article, we carried out a large number of related experiments. The results show that the enterprise human resource recruitment management model in the mobile Internet era increased recruitment efficiency by 18%. Finally, the content studied in this article can provide some reference ideas for subsequent research.

Going Viral: Researching Safely on Social Media.

Safety issues for researchers conducting and disseminating research on social media have been inadequately addressed in institutional policies and practice globally, despite posing significant challenges to research staff and student well-being. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and given the myriad of advantages that web-based platforms offer researchers over traditional recruitment, data collection, and research dissemination methods, developing a comprehensive understanding of and guidance on the safe and effective conduct of research in web-based spaces has never been more pertinent. In this paper, we share our experience of using social media to recruit participants for a study on abortion stigma in Australia, which brought into focus the personal, professional, and institutional risks associated with conducting web-based research that goes viral. The lead researcher (KV), a postgraduate student, experienced a barrage of harassment on and beyond social media. The supportive yet uncoordinated institutional response highlighted gaps in practice, guidance, and policy relating to social media research ethics, researcher safety and well-being, planning for and managing web-based and offline risk, and coordinated organizational responses to adverse events. We call for and provide suggestions to inform the development of training, guidelines, and policies that address practical and ethical aspects of using social media for research, mental and physical health and safety risks and management, and the development of coordinated and evidence-based institutional- and individual-level responses to cyberbullying and harassment. Furthermore, we argue the case for the urgent development of this comprehensive guidance around researcher safety on the web, which would help to ensure that universities have the capacity to maximize the potential of social media for research while better supporting the well-being of their staff and students.

Outreach and recruitment of African Americans for Alzheimer’s disease studies during the COVID‐19 pandemic

BackgroundRecruiting African Americans in AD studies remains a challenge, particularly during a pandemic, where major health disparities in this population are illuminated. The recruitment literature suggests myriad factors that contribute to the underrepresentation of AAs, including, but not limited to “mistrust” in researchers and their institutions. Maintaining a continuous presence in the AA community builds trust even when traditional outreach methods are not allowed. We continued to provide outreach and recruitment opportunities through COVID education and food for families as we educated them about AD, and opportunities for study participation.MethodWhile our traditional outreach methods for recruiting AAs were interrupted, we continued to conduct AD outreach using virtual platforms, mobile phone calls, family conference calls and food distributions. We hosted nine webinars on COVID‐19 to maintain a presence in local and national AA communities and to remain connected to existing AD participants. We reached over 160,000 persons through webinars and social media. We established new relationship new faith leaders in the AA community who co‐hosted COVID‐19 webinars and also expressed interest in forming partnerships on AD education. In addition, we hosted food drives in AA communities that not only addressed food insecurity and COVID prevention, but also AD education and AD research opportunities. At the food drives we distributed bags with masks, hand sanitizers, AD brochures, booklets and study participation information.ResultBetween October and December of 2020, 64 AAs who attended food drives expressed interest in AD studies that required blood draws and cognitive testing. Fifteen enrolled in our genetic study, 15 requested additional follow‐up and 13 expressed interest in participating in more than one study.ConclusionPrior research suggests that recruiting AAs into AD studies requires continuous engagement. We used multiple strategies to maintain contact with the AA community and existing research participants, and successfully increased enrollment in the last quarter of the year. Maintaining consistent and continuous engagement facilitates trustworthiness with AAs and yields positive recruitment outcomes, even in a pandemic where traditional recruitment methods are limited.