Using Reddit as a Source for Recruiting Participants for In-Depth and Phenomenological Research

Abstract

The website Reddit has been noted as a fertile space for researchers due to its large user base and collection of distinctive communities. Reddit communities may be encouraging areas for specialized participant recruitment, though there is currently a lack of literature integrating Reddit into qualitative research participant identification and recruitment. This paper examines unique challenges and opportunities associated with using Reddit for sampling in-depth, qualitative research designs. Using a case example of a qualitative study which recruited from Reddit, the paper offers insight into what social scientists may expect to experience if attempting this form of recruitment. Reddit can potentially offer contact with hard-to-reach populations, and using it for recruitment may broaden the quality of qualitative data if sourced in ways which are ethical and conform to the tolerated standards of the specific communities being sampled.

“You’re Just Looking at One Piece of the Puzzle… My Weight”: A Phenomenological Examination of Diagnostic Crossover in Eating Disorders

“…Using these spaces allowed access to populations that include individuals with an established identity within the context of eating disorders. Other similar studies have used Reddit to recruit research participants (Shatz, 2017;Zapcic et al, 2023). In the recruitment post, I represented myself as [identifying author information] interested in articulating the lived experiences of individuals who participate in binge eating and purging behaviors.…”