Hu Jie, Wong Kam Cheong, Wang Zhiqiang
Center for Chronic Disease, School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Herston, Australia.
JMIR Res Protoc. 2015 Apr 27;4(2):e46. doi: 10.2196/resprot.3960.
Traditionally, postal surveys or face to face interviews are the main approaches for health researchers to obtain essential research data. However, with the prevalence of information technology and Internet, Web-based surveys are gaining popularity in health research.
This study aims to report the process and outcomes of recruiting Chinese migrants through social network sites in Australia and to examine the sample characteristics of online recruitment by comparing the sample which was recruited by an online survey to a sample of Australian Chinese migrants collected by a postal survey.
Descriptive analyses were performed to describe and compare the process and outcomes of online recruitment with postal survey questionnaires. Chi square tests and t tests were performed to assess the differences between the two samples for categorical and continuous variables respectively.
In total, 473 Chinese migrants completed the online health survey from July to October 2013. Out of 426 participants recruited through the three Chinese social network sites in Australia, over 86.6% (369/426) were recruited within six weeks. Participants of the Web-based survey were younger, with a higher education level or had resided in Australia for less time compared to those recruited via a postal survey. However, there was no significant difference in gender, marital status, and professional occupation.
The recruitment of Chinese migrants through social network sites in our online survey was feasible. Compared to a postal survey of Chinese migrants, the online survey attracted different group of Chinese migrants who may have diverse health needs and concerns. Our findings provided insightful information for researchers who are considering employing a Web-based approach to recruit migrants and ethnic minority participants.
传统上，邮政调查或面对面访谈是健康研究人员获取重要研究数据的主要方法。然而，随着信息技术和互联网的普及，基于网络的调查在健康研究中越来越受欢迎。
本研究旨在报告通过澳大利亚社交网站招募中国移民的过程和结果，并通过将在线调查招募的样本与邮政调查收集的澳大利亚华裔移民样本进行比较，来检验在线招募的样本特征。
进行描述性分析以描述和比较在线招募与邮政调查问卷的过程和结果。分别进行卡方检验和t检验，以评估两个样本在分类变量和连续变量上的差异。
2013年7月至10月，共有473名中国移民完成了在线健康调查。在通过澳大利亚三个中文社交网站招募的426名参与者中，超过86.6%（369/426）在六周内被招募。与通过邮政调查招募的参与者相比，基于网络的调查参与者更年轻，受教育程度更高或在澳大利亚居住的时间更短。然而，在性别、婚姻状况和职业方面没有显著差异。
在我们的在线调查中，通过社交网站招募中国移民是可行的。与对中国移民的邮政调查相比，在线调查吸引了不同群体的中国移民，他们可能有不同的健康需求和担忧。我们的研究结果为考虑采用基于网络的方法招募移民和少数民族参与者的研究人员提供了有见地的信息。
