Caracterización de los productores rurales

Another obstacle to achieving targeted sample sizes relate to concerns potential participants may have regarding the way they are treated during research. For example, when Spoth, Redmond, Hockaday and Shin (1996) asked non-participating families about the reasons for refusing to take part in their study of family prevention programs 42% of

respondents stated the use of videotape deterred them from participating in the study. These participants stated that the prospect of being videotaped made them feel uncomfortable. The remaining 52% of the respondents stated that time conflicts were a reason for them to decline the invitation to participate. Invasion of privacy was reported to be a deterrent from

participating in another study of non-participating families conducted by Heinrichs, Bertram, Kuschel and Hahlweg (2005). The respondents in this survey reported that they declined the invitation to participate in the research due to their perception of having a researcher come to their home as an invasion of their privacy. Hure et al. (2008) also found that perceived demands of taking part in research including taking time off work and costs related to travel, parking and child care may negatively affect participant recruitment. Multistage research, where participation in one stage requires a completion of a previous stage, has been identified as another form of intrusion of participant privacy (Spoth & Redmond, 2000). Attending multiple appointments for all data to be collected has been described as burdensome and time-consuming which often leads to poor retention rate.

To maximise recruitment and retention rate while ensuring protection of public privacy the literature suggests that a balance between research benefits and benefits to the public is established and well-maintained when conducting studies. It is further suggested that minimal disruption to personal time is maintained and minimal emotional demands placed on potential participants by offering different incentives. For example, Hure et al. (2008) offered parking permits to their participants as an incentive for taking part in their study. Some studies used monetary incentives to increase the likelihood of recruiting larger sample sizes (Edwards, Cooper, Roberts, & Frost, 2005; Mapstone, Elbourne, & Roberts, 2007; Tishler & Bartholomae, 2002). However, the effectiveness of using monetary

incentives is debatable with only a small number of studies reporting on the use of financial rewards. Offering alternative time appointments and convenient meeting places represents another method of protecting public privacy when recruiting for research (Hure et al., 2008).

In light of the above difficulties associated with the recruitment and retention of participants, the remainder of this chapter describes the steps taken to recruit and retain participants in the two studies undertaken in the present research and compare them to the recommendations made in the literature. Additionally, further recommendations to overcome barriers in recruiting potential participants are offered based on the challenges encountered in the present investigation.

Factors Impacting Recruitment for Study 1 - Young Adults’ Experience of Parent-Adolescent Conflict During Their Own Adolescence

The aim of the first study was to retrospectively investigate young adults’ experience of parent-adolescent conflict during their own adolescence. The study was designed as a qualitative exploration of their perceptions of the characteristics of their own parent- adolescent conflicts, their perceptions of a difference between disagreements with mothers and disagreements with fathers, their perceptions of conflict resolution strategies and their

perceptions of the effects of their own parent-adolescent conflicts on their current level of well-being. Prior to commencing the study ethics approval was sought from the University’s Human Research Ethics Committee. In response to the ethics application the Committee raised some concerns and provided recommendations regarding the level of risk to the participants, content of the materials used and the manner in which consent was to be obtained. Amendments were subsequently made in line with the recommendations and approval for the study was received.

Access to the potential participants was gained in two stages. The first stage involved contacting Heads of twenty-four Schools at the University to seek permission to randomly approach lecturers in the Schools for the purpose of introducing the study to their students. The second stage involved contacting the lecturers and seeking their permission to allow the researcher to introduce the study to their students at the start of a lecture. The researcher contacted 114 lecturing staff and approval was obtained from twenty-eight lecturers.

During the recruitment period 520 students were approached and invited to take part in the study. The researcher personally visited a lecture of the willing lecturers and briefly introduce the students to the purpose of the study, requirements of their participation, and potential study risks and benefits. An information pack consisting of a plain language statement and a consent form was then handed to each student and it was explained that the information packs would be collected in the following week’s class from those who had signed the consent form. Each willing participant was then contacted to arrange a time to conduct a structured interview at the university. With participants’ written permission, each interview was tape-recorded. A sample of 19 young adults was recruited and retained through this method.

Factors Impacting Recruitment for Study 2 – Parents and Adolescents’ Current Experience of Parent-Adolescent Conflict

The aim of the second study was to investigate adolescents’ and parents’ experience of current conflict. The study was designed as a qualitative exploration of adolescents and parents’ perception of the conflict characteristics, perceptions of a difference between disagreements with mothers and disagreements with fathers, their perceptions of conflict resolution strategies and their perception of the effects of their own parent-adolescent conflict on adolescents’ and parents’ current level of well-being. Prior to commencing the study ethics approval was sought from the University’s Human Research Ethics Committee. In response to the ethics application the Committee raised some concerns and provided recommendations regarding the protection of adolescents privacy, content of the materials used and the manner in which the consent was to be obtained. Amendments were

subsequently made in line with the recommendations and approval for the study was received.

Families with adolescent children were recruited from a general medical centre and from a family mediation centre. Following written consent to approach patients being obtained from both centres, the study was advertised on each centre’s notice board and

reception area. The advertisements invited interested participants to collect from the reception desk a copy of each of two survey kits (one for parents and one for adolescents). The survey kits consisted of a cover letter, a plain language statement with a consent form attached, a three-part questionnaire and a list of referral agencies. Consenting parents and adolescents who signed the consent form also completed the three part self-report questionnaire either at the centres or at their home and returned them to the researcher in the prepaid envelopes. Initially 50 families were proposed to be recruited for the second study. Twenty-one families participated and the sample was comprised of 29 adolescents, 21 mothers and 14 fathers.

The strategies employed in Study 1 and 2 to avoid some of the usual barriers to participant recruitment are presented in Table 1.

Table 1

Strategies Used in Study 1 and 2 to Increase Participant Recruitment and Retention Rates Strategies used to improve recruitment and retention rate Study 1 Study 2 Suggested number of participants for qualitative study design

attained

! !

Direct engagement of adolescents - !

Use of non-emotive words - !

Improved layout and readability of study materials - ! Minimal risk level and intrusion of privacy ensured ! !

Selection of specific study design – suggested number of participants for qualitative study design attained. As previously outlined, literature on sample sizes in qualitative research suggest that no less than 15 respondents are recruited. This guideline was used to recruit meaningful number of participants in both studies of the present investigation. The first study was comprised of 19 young adults while 21 families comprised the sample size in the second study.

Use of children and adolescents as participants - direct engagement of adolescents. Direct engagement of participants in the first study was achieved through recruitment of participants of a consenting age, in this case young adults between 18 and 30 years. The researcher went to the start of the lectures for which permission from relevant lecturers was obtained to introduce the study. Students willing to participate in the research were asked to provide written consent. Following attainment of the written consent the

researcher contacted the willing participants to organise a time and venue for the structured interviews to be conducted. Selection of the time and venue was made in consultation with the willing participants to avoid possible time clashes and ensure their privacy.

In a case of the second study Munford and Sanders (2004) model was used to directly engage adolescents in the recruitment process. A notice was displayed on entrance door and around the reception desk at the two recruitment centres inviting both parents and adolescents to collect survey kits from the boxes placed around reception area. Information letter included in the survey kit advised potential participants that provision of both parent consent and adolescent assent was required for further participation in the study.

Use of emotive words in study title/materials. In the first study of the present investigation a term, ‘conflict’ was used during the introduction of the study to the potential participants and in the materials used for evaluation of the young adults’ experience of parent-adolescent disagreements. It appeared that this term carried a strong emotional

connotation, as the final sample size did not exceed 19 individuals. When the word ‘conflict’ was replaced with a non-emotive word ‘disagreement’ in the second study the recruitment rate improved to 21 families or 64 individuals (29 adolescents and 35 parents).

Layout and readability of study materials – improved layout and readability of study materials. In regard to readability and layout of the study materials used in the two studies, the Plain Language Statement and the questionnaire were designed in line with the suggestions made by Hure et al. (2008) and Puffer et al. (2004). The Plain Language

Statement was designed as a statement printed on the A4 paper which was double sided and was 3 pages long in total. The questionnaire was designed as a single booklet printed on both sides of the A4 paper. In the first study the materials were printed in black and white with no images included to reflect the nature of the study. To enhance the visual layout, the study materials were presented in a more colourful manner in the second study. Coloured folders

were used to hold all the materials for use by participants in the second study. Images of families were printed on the last page of the booklets and the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Grade Level was performed to ensure text is easy to read. The obtained scores on the Flesch- Kincaid Readability Grade Level for the two studies are reported in the Method section of this investigation. Additionally, participants were encouraged to make follow-up contact with the researcher in case of further clarification needed to decide about study participation.

Treatment of participants including assessment of risk level and intrusion of participant privacy – minimal risk level and intrusion of privacy ensured. In the first study, consenting participants were contacted two weeks after the initial contact was made by the researcher to organise a time and venue for the structured interviews. In the second study centres from which participants were recruited were visited on a regular basis to ensure adequate recruitment procedures were followed by the centre staff. Although, the follow-up contact made some difference in the number of recruited participants, the number of

participants did not significantly increase. Treweek, Mitchell, Pitkethly, Cook, Kjeldstrom, Taskila, et al. (2010) conducted a review of randomised and quasi-randomised trials of interventions used to increase the response and retention rate of participants and found that increasing contact between researchers and recruitment sites did not increase the response rate, nor did giving more information to the prospective participants before the

commencement of the study. Rather, telephoning participants to remind them about the study, or allowing participants to contact the researcher for any study related queries, did improve participant recruitment as did the inclusion of a small amount of money and not keeping the participants blind to the study’s purpose and method. However, Treweek et al (2010) highlighted that, although improvements were achieved by using these strategies, issues of concern were raised in relation to their effect size and ethical evaluation. For example, the effect size of using reminder calls was small. Using monetary incentives did improve

recruitment rate but the sample sizes were still small even after the money was offered. Because of the inconclusive findings about the benefits of monetary inducement and in order to avoid participant compliance under the influence of undue inducement, no financial remuneration was used in the present investigation. This rationale was particularly relative to the sample recruited for the second study. Adolescents are perceived as having limited autonomy and as such, need to be protected from any undue inducement and subtle coercion.

Limitations

Although adequate sample sizes for qualitative studies were achieved in the present investigation limitations to achieve larger sample size were still encountered during the recruitment procedure. Firstly, participants in the first study were university students and a large number of them were from the School of Health Sciences. Students from this school are often approached and invited to participate in various studies either on a voluntary basis or as a course requirement. Hure and colleagues (2008) found that using participants who have already been approached decreases the likelihood of those participants to accept an invitation to participate in another study. Secondly, the timing of recruitment clashed with a many study related commitments of the potential participants as most of the recruitment process took place around the busy times for students (sitting exams and submitting assessments).

Additionally, students were not always accessible due study breaks within and between each semester. Similarly, finding time to complete the surveys among their busy schedules may have deterred some families form taking part in the second study. Thirdly, the topic of parent- adolescent conflict may have been perceived as one of a sensitive nature. In regard to the first study, collection of the signed consent forms was conducted within a public setting. This procedure may have been perceived intrusive to the potential participants’ privacy. Moreover, it may have carried an element of potential participants being identified as experiencing family disagreements which they may have wanted to avoid. In regard to the second study a

similar explanation can be offered insofar that collection of survey kits from reception areas may have led to a perception of their privacy being intruded in some potential participants.

Based on the challenges experienced during the recruitment for the present investigation following recommendations are offered for future studies: (a) use written information that does not employ emotive words and is more visually appealing; (b) target groups recruited from populations that are not often approached for research participation; (c) ensure that the timing of recruitment is better aligned with the commitments of the targeted population; (d) ensure greater privacy at the time of accepting the invitation to participate; and (e) better outline benefits to participants.

Chapter 6: Effects of Parent-Adolescent Conflict on Young Adults’ Psychological