Department of Health Behavior and Policy, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia.
Robertson School of Media and Culture, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2020 Apr;29(4):731-735. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-19-0846. Epub 2020 Feb 17.
There is often a lack of transparency in research using online panels related to recruitment methods and sample derivation. The purpose of this study was to describe the recruitment and participation of respondents from two disparate surveys derived from the same online research panel using quota sampling.
A commercial survey sampling and administration company, Qualtrics, was contracted to recruit participants and implement two Internet-based surveys. The first survey targeted adults aged 50 to 75 years and used sampling quotas to obtain diversity with respect to household income and race/ethnicity. The second focused on women aged 18 to 49 years and utilized quota sampling to achieve a geographically balanced sample.
A racially and economically diverse sample of older adults ( = 419) and a geographically diverse sample of younger women ( = 530) were acquired relatively quickly (within 12 and 4 days, respectively). With exception of the highest income level, quotas were implemented as requested. Recruitment of older adults took longer (vs. younger female adults). Although survey completion rates were reasonable in both studies, there were inconsistencies in the proportion of incomplete survey responses and quality fails.
Cancer researchers, and researchers in general, should consider ways to leverage the use of online panels for future studies. To optimize novel and innovative strategies, researchers should proactively ask questions about panels and carefully consider the strengths and drawbacks of online survey features including quota sampling and forced response.
Results provide practical insights for cancer researchers developing future online surveys and recruitment protocols.
使用与招聘方法和样本来源有关的在线面板进行研究时，通常缺乏透明度。本研究的目的是描述从同一个在线研究面板中使用配额抽样得出的两个截然不同的调查的受访者的招聘和参与情况。
一家名为 Qualtrics 的商业调查抽样和管理公司被聘请来招募参与者并实施两项基于互联网的调查。第一项调查针对年龄在 50 至 75 岁之间的成年人，使用抽样配额来实现家庭收入和种族/民族的多样性。第二项调查专注于 18 至 49 岁的女性，利用配额抽样来实现地理平衡的样本。
相对较快地获得了一个种族和经济多样化的老年人群体样本（n = 419）和一个地理多样化的年轻女性群体样本（n = 530）（分别在 12 天和 4 天内完成）。除了最高收入水平外，配额都按照要求执行。招募老年人的时间（与年轻女性成年人相比）更长。尽管在这两项研究中，调查完成率都相当可观，但仍存在不完整调查回复比例和质量不合格的不一致情况。
癌症研究人员，以及一般的研究人员，都应该考虑在未来的研究中利用在线面板的优势。为了优化新颖和创新的策略，研究人员应该主动询问有关面板的问题，并仔细考虑在线调查功能的优缺点，包括配额抽样和强制回复。
研究结果为癌症研究人员制定未来的在线调查和招聘方案提供了实用的见解。
