Rasgos descriptivos de la novela

A number of avenues were used to recruit the women in the study, due to the predicted

difficulties recruiting. These included:

 Contacting South Asian charities that provided support for Asian women across the UK ( i.e. specific BME charities in Leicester, Scotland, London, Bristol,

Birmingham were contacted)

 Advertising posters in specific Asian community centres in London and Asian newsletter

 Advertising poster on online self-harm chat forums was attempted and on an Asian radio called ‘Nusound’.

 Advertising posters using social media such as Facebook.

 Advertisement at two higher education establishments (one in London and one in Leicester). Posters were advertised across campus and specifically in the

female toilets to provide a more confidential setting.

 Contact with Black and Asian Counselling Psychology network group was attempted to alert members who know of BME group centres to advertise the

research.

 Poster was advertised on BPS E-letter to alert therapists working alongside BME group and to attract members who may meet the criteria of the research.

 Word of mouth through friends, family and colleagues.

3.5.1-Recruitment challenges encountered

Once leaflets and posters were produced (see Appendix-C), several attempts to make

contact with gatekeepers from the various recruitment strategies highlighted above

were made. Only a few charities and community centres were interested in the study

and accepted to advertise posters on their notice board and inform South Asian women

of the study. Most charities and community centres were unable to support the

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the sensitive nature of the phenomenon investigated by the study. Five different higher

educational institutes were contacted to access students of South Asian origin. But,

only two institutes agreed to advertise the study across their campus and in female

toilets. Two declined for reasons that this study’s recruitment may compromise their

student’s efforts of recruiting similar population and one did not respond to requests

made.

Despite over thirty posters and leaflets being distributed, the study had not received

any interested participant within a six month waiting period. The recruitment strategy

was therefore reviewed and offering a cash-incentive was decided to help with

recruitment. Including a cash incentive on the posters was considered important in the

context of recruiting a marginalised population and in increasing a sense of mutual

benefit within the researcher -participant relationship. This was supported by Mir

(2008), who reported the importance of reciprocity within the researcher- participant

relationship in culturally competent researches. Mir’s article explained that building reciprocity within the research design establishes equal power within the relationship

which increases engagement, acceptability and credibility of research, particularly for

communities who have benefited little in past researches.

3.5.2-Recruitment procedure

Participants were encouraged to contact the researcher directly using the contact

details (telephone or email) on the posters and leaflets. Alternatively, participants who

heard of the research through word of mouth from friends and family of the researcher

and indicated willingness to participate were asked whether they would be happy to be

contacted by the researcher. Once contact was made, a screening process over the

telephone was arranged as an initial phase to ensure interested participants met the

study’s criteria.

The screening involved a thorough assessment of their current risk level and sufficient

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screening questionnaire). Confidentiality was verbally stated to provide each participant

with reassurance and to allow trust to be built from an early stage. Demographic

questions were also asked to ensure they met the criteria. Participant information

leaflets were also emailed to each interested participant to ensure they understood the

process and were made aware of the study’s expectations. If participants continued to

show interest in participating, a meeting was arranged at a convenient date and safe

confidential location to both researcher and participant. Most interviews were

conducted at City University’s Social Sciences building and one was conducted at a

location convenient to the participant (i.e. a confidential room within the participant’s

work place, assessed to be safe).

During each interview meeting, participants were asked to complete a demographic

questionnaire and asked to sign a written consent form. Participants were reminded of

confidentiality and their rights to withdraw at any time during the study. They were also

informed of the safety procedures planned to help minimise the level of distress

potentially evoked during the interview (e.g. breaks during interview and allocated time

to debrief). Any concerns or questions about the process of the interview were also

answered.

Following the interview, participants were debriefed about the research and asked for

feedback about their experience of the interview. They were also provided with the

opportunity to raise any issues with the researcher and concerns with regards to the

interview questions. If participants had become distressed during the interview, the

researcher was prepared to provide support and containment. All participants were

provided with a debrief sheet, a list of support services and a gift of £20 cash as an

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