Whether your research is experimental or nonexperimental, you must consider three factors when acquiring participants for your research: You must consider (1) the set- ting in which your research will take place, (2) any special needs of your particular research, and (3) any institutional, departmental, and ethical policies and guidelines governing the use of participants in research.
Th e Research Setting
Chapter 4 distinguished between laboratory and fi eld research. In fi eld research, you conduct your research in the participant’s natural environment, whereas in laboratory research you bring your participants into a laboratory environment of your creation.
Acquiring participants for laboratory research diff ers from acquiring them for fi eld research.
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ACQUIRING HUMAN PARTICIPANTS FOR RESEARCH 165
Laboratory Research If you choose to conduct your research in a laboratory setting, there are two principal ways of acquiring participants. First, you can solicit volunteers from whatever participant population is available. For example, you could recruit par- ticipants from your university library or lounge area. Th ese participants would partici- pate on a voluntary basis. As we indicate later in this chapter, voluntary participation has both positive and negative consequences for your research. Second, you can use a subject pool if one exists. Individuals in the subject pool may be required to participate in a certain number of studies (with an alternative to the research option provided).
If you adopt this strategy, you must make sure that your recruitment procedures do not coerce folks into participating. Even when using a subject pool, participation in a research study must be voluntary.
Field Research Field research requires you to select your participants while they are in their natural environment. How you acquire your participants for fi eld research depends on the nature of your study. For example, if you are conducting a survey, you would use one of the survey sampling techniques discussed in Chapter 9 to acquire a sample of participants. Essentially, these techniques involve selecting a participant from a popu- lation, contacting that person, and having him or her complete your questionnaire.
If you were running a fi eld experiment, you could use one of two methods for acquiring participants, again depending on the nature and needs of your study. Some fi eld experiments are actually carried out much like laboratory experiments except that you take your “show” (equipment, assistants, measuring devices, etc.) on the road and set up in the participant’s natural environment. Th is is what Sheina Orbell and Martin Hagger (2006) did in a fi eld experiment investigating how adults respond to persua- sive messages about the eff ects of diabetes.
Participants were recruited by having researchers do home visits in a particular town. Participants were invited to take part in a study of their attitudes about tak- ing part in a diabetes screening program and were asked to complete a questionnaire about participation in such a program. In this experiment, participants were randomly assigned to one of two versions of a persuasive appeal. One paragraph of the instructions for the questionnaire pointed out the positive and negative consequences of participat- ing in the screening program. Th e main independent variable was the “time frame”
for the positive and negative aspects of participation. In one condition, the positive aspects were said to be long term (participating in screening gives people peace of mind for years to come) and the negative consequences short term (undergoing unpleasant procedures immediately). In the other condition, the positive consequences were cast as short term (“getting immediate peace of mind” about their health) and the negative consequences in the long term (worrying about taking medicine for their whole lives).
In this type of fi eld experiment, the researchers maintain about as much control over participant selection and assignment as they would if the experiment were con- ducted in the laboratory. However, the researchers are at the mercy of whoever hap- pens to be at home on any given day. Th us, with fi eld research, you have less control over participants than in the laboratory.
In another type of fi eld experiment, you set up a situation and wait for partici- pants to happen along. A fi eld experiment reported by Michael Shohat and Jochen Musch (2003) conducted in Germany illustrates this strategy. Shohat and Musch
166 CHAPTER 6 . Choosing and Using Research Subjects
were interested in studying ethnic discrimination. Th ey set up auctions on eBay to sell DVDs, and manipulated the ethnicity of the seller. On one eBay listing, the seller had a Turkish username. On another, the seller had a German username. Th e researchers recorded the number of hits on each listing as well as the average price paid for the DVDs. In this kind of fi eld experiment, you have less control over who participates in your research. Whoever happens to sign in to eBay at a particular time and search for DVDs would be potential participants.
Th e Needs of Your Research
Special needs of your research may aff ect how you acquire participants. In some cases, you may have to screen potential participants for certain characteristics (such as gender, age, or personality characteristics). For example, in a jury study, you might screen participants for their level of authoritarianism and include only authoritarians in your research. To do this, you must fi rst pretest participants using some measure of authoritarianism and then recruit only those who fall into the category you want.
Bear in mind that doing this aff ects the external validity of your fi ndings. Th e results you obtain with participants who score high in authoritarianism may not apply to those who show lower levels of authoritarianism.
As another example, you may need children of certain ages for a developmental study of intelligence. Acquiring a sample of children for your research is a bit more involved than acquiring a sample of adults. You must obtain permission from the child’s parent or guardian, as well as from the child him- or herself. In practice, some parents may not want their children to participate. Th is again raises issues of external validity. Your sample of children of parents who agree to allow participation may diff er from the general population of children.
Institutional Policies and Ethical Guidelines
All psychological research involving human participants must comply with the ethical guidelines set out by the American Psychological Association (APA) and with federal and state laws regulating such research. (We discuss these requirements in the next chapter.) Institutions have their own rules concerning how human participants can be recruited and used in research. Although these rules must conform to relevant ethical codes and laws, there is considerable latitude when it comes to setting up subject pools.
During the planning stages of your research, you should familiarize yourself with the federal and state laws concerning research using human participants, as well as the policies of the institution in which you are conducting your research.
QUESTIONS TO PONDER
1. How does the setting for your research aff ect participant recruitment?
2. How do the needs of your research infl uence participant recruitment?
3. How do institutional policies and ethical considerations aff ect participant recruitment?
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