Evaluation of Different Recruitment Methods: Longitudinal, Web-Based, Pan-European Physical Activity Through Sustainable Transport Approaches (PASTA) Project

Abstract

Background Sufficient sample size and minimal sample bias are core requirements for empirical data analyses. Combining opportunistic recruitment with a Web-based survey and data-collection platform yields new benefits over traditional recruitment approaches. Objective This paper aims to report the success of different recruitment methods and obtain data on participants’ characteristics, participation behavior, recruitment rates, and representativeness of the sample. Methods A longitudinal, Web-based survey was implemented as part of the European PASTA (Physical Activity through Sustainable Transport Approaches) project, between November 2014 and December 2016. During this period, participants were recruited from 7 European cities on a rolling basis. A standardized guide on recruitment strategy was developed for all cities, to reach a sufficient number of adult participants. To make use of the strengths and minimize weakness, a combination of different opportunistic recruitment methods was applied. In addition, the random sampling approach was applied in the city of Örebro. To reduce the attrition rate and improve real-time monitoring, the Web-based platform featured a participant’s and a researchers’ user interface and dashboard. Results Overall, 10,691 participants were recruited; most people found out about the survey through their workplace or employer (2300/10691, 21.51%), outreach promotion (2219/10691, 20.76%), and social media (1859/10691, 17.39%). The average number of questionnaires filled in per participant varied significantly between the cities ( P <.001), with the highest number in Zurich (11.0, SE 0.33) and the lowest in Örebro (4.8, SE 0.17). Collaboration with local organizations, the use of Facebook and mailing lists, and direct street recruitment were the most effective approaches in reaching a high share of participants ( P <.001). Considering the invested working hours, Facebook was one of the most time-efficient methods. Compared with the cities’ census data, the composition of study participants was broadly representative in terms of gender distribution; however, the study included younger and better-educated participants. Conclusions We observed that offering a mixed recruitment approach was highly effective in achieving a high participation rate. The highest attrition rate and the lowest average number of questionnaires filled in per participant were observed in Örebro, which also recruited participants through random sampling. These findings suggest that people who are more interested in the topic are more willing to participate and stay in a survey than those who are selected randomly and may not have a strong connection to the research topic. Although direct face-to-face contacts were very effective with respect to the number of recruited participants, recruiting people through social media was not only...

Correlates of Walking for Travel in Seven European Cities: The PASTA Project

“…Although, encouragingly, effect estimates were similar to those obtained in the main analyses, we recognize that the possibility of bias due to effect modification by city cannot be discarded. Finally, and probably one of the most important limitations, compared with the cities census data, the composition of the PASTA participants is broadly representative in terms of gender distribution and, therefore, it includes younger and better educated participants (Gaupp-Berghausen et al. 2019).…”

“…Details of the PASTA project are provided elsewhere (Dons et al. 2015; Gaupp-Berghausen et al. 2019; Gerike et al.…”

“…Örebro (Sweden) was the only city that did not do a lottery (nor any other kind of incentive) because it was not allowed due to its workplace recruitment particularities (Dons et al. 2015; Gaupp-Berghausen et al. 2019).…”

“…Information on mobility and physical activity habits was gathered through the use of questions on the frequency of use of different modes of transport and the use of the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). In total, 10,691 participants answered the baseline questionnaire (Gaupp-Berghausen et al. 2019).…”

Connected Health User Willingness to Share Personal Health Data: Questionnaire Study

“…The average completion time of the online survey was 12 minutes. Web-based sampling has been seen to be an effective medium to recruit participants, as it enables remote access and complies with individual preferences [67]. To comply with the emerging requirements of quality data collection in online surveys, we report our results based on the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys (CHERRIES) [68].…”