How to recruit participants for your engagement process

What is it?

A method to select a diverse or representative group of participants, this can be against demographic criteria and attitudinal questions or other forms of eligibility such as having had a particular experience.

Unlike sortition with a stage of random invitation, participants can either:

• ◆ Be invited from an existing database held by the market research organisation of people who have expressed interest in these kinds of opportunities. The database may already give all the demographic information required and the organisation will invite people to fill a quota of different characteristics, or they may need to ask eligible people on the database additional questions. OR
  
• ◆ Be selected by ‘on street’ recruitment – where a recruiter goes to a place and invites people who are out and about to participate. The recruiter will usually use an element of randomisation. As people agree to participate the  recruiter will collect demographic information and will recruit to fill quotas that reflect the intended mini public.
  
• ◆ They will confirm participation either while ‘on the street’ or by their database contact process. 
• ◆ Sometimes a market research organisation will then manage all aspects of participant liaison including payment of the gift of thanks.
  
• ◆ They may be able to replace participants who drop out in advance of the engagement and this should be discussed in commissioning.

A number of market research organisations in the UK offer recruitment in this way.

Why choose this approach?

You would like a diverse sample but have a budget that constrains a full sortition process.

The legitimacy and buy-in to your process recommendations are not dependent upon having a gold standard recruitment methodology.

You want to recruit a small number of participants, including topping up participants in an ongoing process.

You have a very tight timeline.

Considerations

What kinds of people and voices may be lost by recruiting only those who are signed up to a market research database or out ‘on the street’?

With on street recruitment, conscious and unconscious biases held by the recruiter may influence who is approached or not.

What is it?

Using civil society partners to reach the populations they work with. 

This relies upon civil society organisations having depth of reach and being a trusted organisation. Initial contact from a trusted organisation can be viewed more favourably than for example from a market research organisation.

Participants can be invited through the organisation’s database of contacts or activities (for example through letters home to school children or outreach at contact points with service users)

Why choose this approach?

You want to hear from  a specific group of people (either just from that group or to increase that group’s presence) and there are clear civil society routes to do that.

The civil society organisations you will work with are largely trusted.

Civil society buy in to the engagement process is likely to amplify impact that your work will do. For example, your engagement process may generate recommendations that the civil society organisations can also implement.

Considerations

This can be an additional method used in combination with any other approach to increase sign up and/or participation from particular demographic groups.

What relationship do you have with the civil society organisation? How will you ensure they also benefit from the engagement? What data sharing arrangements do you need to put in place? Do you need to compensate your civil society partners for their time?

What is it?

Recruitment can also be targeted through other approaches (other than civil society) which can include; knocking on doors in a particular locality and using targeted social media advertising.

Why choose this approach?

You want to hear from specific groups of people but either civil society infrastructure is insufficient, their reach is low,  or there is low trust. 

This is also good for times when you want to reach people by geography.

Considerations

This can be an additional method used in combination with any other approach to increase sign up and/or participation from particular demographic groups.

You should think carefully about the history of engagement with your target participants and whether there have been any negative experiences that could resurface, or power inequities that could cause harm. Who is visible in the process of recruitment and what relationship do they have with the target audience?

What is it?

Marketing and communications are used to publicise the engagement opportunity and anyone can participate.

This can be developed by your comms team, if recruited at the earliest stage

Why choose this approach?

You have a very small budget.

Your issue is not contentious or very important (so it is not so important that you will most likely only hear from certain people).

Your engagement is happening in a very public place (e.g. a pop up stand on a high street) where the visibility and accessibility of the engagement activity lends itself to self selecting recruitment.

Considerations

When anyone can participate some people are much more likely to do so. These tend to be certain groups of people who are historically well heard in engagement processes.

Methods to increase reach through marketing such as consideration of the message, branding, and representation have only a small impact on overcoming this challenge when used in isolation.

Please note: using the civil society groups and other targeted recruitment will require marketing and communication, so these could be considered joined.