Recruitment of Oncology Nurses for Internet Research: Issues and Future Directions

Eun-Ok Im

Wonshik Chee

Hyun Ju Lim

Melinda Bender

Hsiu-Min Tsai

Soon-Ok Yang

Hungsa Lee

ONF 2006, 33(2), 249-254. DOI: 10.1188/06.ONF.249-254

Purpose/Objectives: To provide future directions for Internet research based on issues raised during the recruitment process of an Internet survey of oncology nurses.

Data Sources: Throughout the research process, the research staff recorded issues as they arose and wrote memos regarding recruitment issues and possible reasons for the issues. Weekly group discussions were conducted, and written records of the discussions were kept. The written memos and records were reviewed, and the content was analyzed.

Data Synthesis: The recruitment issues included flexibility required, mutual trust, changing Internet dynamics, and potential selection bias.

Conclusions: As the issues indicated, recruiting nurses for the study only through the Internet did not work well.

Implications for Nursing: For future Internet research, the authors suggest using multiple Internet and real settings for recruitment, a variety of strategies, the quota sampling method, and creative motivation strategies.

Jump to a section

    References

    Albers, L.L., & Sedler, K.D. (2004). Clinician perspectives on participation in research. Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health, 49, 47-50

    Barriball, K.L., & While, A.E. (1999). Non-response in survey research: A methodological discussion and development of an explanatory model. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 30, 677-686.

    Burns, N., & Grove, S.K. (1997). Practice of nursing research: Conduct, critique, and utilization (3rd ed.). Philadelphia: Saunders.

    Cho, H., & LaRose, R. (1999). Privacy issues in Internet surveys. Social Science Computer Review, 17, 421-434.

    Coleman, E.A., Tyll, L., LaCroix, A.Z., Allen, C., Leveille, S.G., Wallace, J.I., et al. (1997). Recruiting African-American older adults for a community-based health promotion intervention: Which strategies are effective? American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 136, (6, Suppl.), 51-56.

    ComputersScope Ltd. and others. (2002). NUA Internet surveys. Retrieved January 14, 2002, from http://www.nua.ie/surveys/

    Donovan, J.L., Peters, T.J., Noble, S., Powell, P., Gillatt, D., Oliver, S.E., et al. (2003). Who can best recruit to randomized trials? Randomized trial comparing surgeons and nurses recruiting patients to a trial of treatments for localized prostate cancer (the ProtecT study). Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 56, 605-609.

    Ehrenberger, H., & Murray, P.J. (1998). Issues in the use of communications technologies in nursing research. Oncology Nursing Forum, 25(10, Suppl.), 11-15.

    Feil, E.G., Noell, J., Lichtenstein, E., Boles, S.M., & McKay, H.G. (2003). Evaluation of an Internet-based smoking cessation program: Lessons learned from a pilot study. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 5, 189-194.

    Fowler, B.A. (2002). An outsider's experiences in conducting field research in an African-American community. Journal of National Black Nurses' Association, 13(1), 31-37.

    Gavaler, J.S., Bonham-Leyba, M., Castro, C.A., & Harman, S.E. (1999). The Oklahoma postmenopausal women's health study: Recruitment and characteristics of American Indian, Asian, black, Hispanic, and Caucasian women. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 23, 220-223.

    Gilliss, C.L., Lee, K., Gutierrez, Y., Taylor, D., Beyene, Y., Neuhaus, J., et al. (2001). Recruitment and retention of healthy minority women into community-based longitudinal research. Journal of Women's Health and Gender-Based Medicine, 10, 77-85.

    Gorelick, P.B., Richardson, D., Hudson, E., Perry, C., Robinson, D., Brown, N., et al. (1996). Establishing a community network for recruitment of African Americans into a clinical trial. The African-American Antiplatelet Stroke Prevention Study (AAASPS) experience. Journal of the National Medical Association, 88, 701-704.

    Graham, P. (2002). Will filters kill spam? Retrieved September 3, 2004, from http://www.paulgraham.com/wfks.html

    Han, H.R., & Belcher, A.E. (2001). Computer-mediated support group use among parents of children with cancer—An exploratory study. Computers in Nursing, 19, 27-33.

    HispanicBusiness.com. (2002). Study: Hispanic Internet use reaches 50 percent. Retrieved September 5, 2002, from http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?id=6135

    Im, E.O., & Chee, W. (2003a). Decision support computer program for cancer pain management. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 21, 12-21.

    Im, E.O., & Chee, W. (2003b). Issues in Internet research. Nursing Outlook, 51, 6-12.

    Im, E.O., & Chee, W. (2004a). Issues in an Internet survey among midlife Asian women. Health Care for Women International, 25, 150-164.

    Im, E.O., & Chee, W. (2004b). Issues in Internet survey research among cancer patients. Cancer Nursing, 27, 34-42.

    Isaacman, D.J., & Reynolds, E.A. (1996). Effect of a research nurse on patient enrollment in a clinical study. Pediatric Emergency Care, 12, 340-342.

    Jones, R., & Pitt, N. (1999). Health surveys in the workplace: Comparison of postal, email and World Wide Web methods. Occupational Medicine, 49, 556-558.

    Kalisch, B.J. (2003). Recruiting nurses: The problem is the process. Journal of Nursing Administration, 33, 468-477.

    Kendall, L. (2000). "Oh no! I'm a nerd!": Hegemonic masculinity on an online forum. Gender and Society, 14, 256-274.

    Kollock, P., & Smith, M.A. (1999). Communities in cyberspace. In M.A. Smith & K. Peter (Eds.), Communities in cyberspace (pp. 3-28). London: Routledge.

    Kypri, K., Stephenson, S., & Langley, J. (2004). Assessment of nonresponse bias in an Internet survey of alcohol use. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 28, 630-634.

    Leece, P., Bhandari, M., Sprague, S., Swiontkowski, M.F., Schemitsch, E.H., Tornetta, P., et al. (2004). Internet versus mailed questionnaires: A randomized comparison (2). Journal of Medical Internet Research, 6(3), e30.

    Mangunkusumo, R.T., Moorman, P.W., Van Den Berg-de Ruiter, A.E., Van Der Lei, J., De Koning, H.J., & Raat, H. (2005). Internet-administered adolescent health questionnaires compared with a paper version in a randomized study. Journal of Adolescent Health, 36(1), 70.

    McGee, R., & Kypri, K. (2004). Alcohol-related problems experienced by university students in New Zealand. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 28, 321-323.

    Nguyen, H.T., & Walker, E.A. (1997). A first course in fuzzy logic. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

    Rhodes, S.D., Bowie, D.A., & Hergenrather, K.C. (2003). Collecting behavioural data using the World Wide Web: Considerations for researchers. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 57, 68-73.

    Seaton, K.L., Cornell, J.L., Wilhelmsen, K.C., & Vieten, C. (2004). Effective strategies for recruiting families ascertained through alcoholic probands. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 28, 78-84.

    Smart, G., & Kotzer, A.M. (2003). STAT! A four-step approach to nursing recruitment and retention in a tertiary pediatric setting. Nursing Leadership Forum, 8(2), 72-77.

    Sorkin, D.E. (2005). Spam laws: United States: State laws: Summary. Retrieved January 31, 2006, from http://www.spamlaws.com/state/summary.html

    Stone, B., & Weil, D. (2003, November 24). Soaking in spam. Newsweek, 142, 66.

    Weber, R.P. (1990). Basic content analysis (2nd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Wilmoth, M.C. (1995). Computer networks as a source of research subjects. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 17, 335-338.

    Zadeh, L.A. (1965). Fuzzy sets. Information and Control, 8, 338-353.

    Zadeh L.A. (1990). The birth and evolution of fuzzy logic. International Journal of General Systems, 17, 95-105.