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Recruiting Participants

Introduction

The selection of participants whose background and abilities are representative of the portals' intended end user is a crucial element of the profiling process. Participants should be recruited from the site's main users groups.

Valid results will be obtained only if the participants recruited for profiling are typical end users of the portal, or are matched as closely to the categories and attributes as possible. Identify the main attributes of each user group to be tested and screen responses based on these attributes.

See: User Profiling - Concepts for further information about categories and attributes.

Before you recruit participants

The following table lists a few important factors that you may need to consider before recruiting participants for profiling.

Factors to consider include... Comments
how many participants you wish to profile. Unless targeting a narrowly defined group, a small sample will not cover the range of users. While any amount of profiling will help, too small a sample may not provide reliable feedback.
the geographical distribution you wish to obtain information from. Will you limit your testing to your physical location, or will you target remote users?
broad versus narrow categories of participants. A broad category of users, such as 'Australian residents' will be easy to source, but the results will be difficult to analyse.
specific problem(s) you are trying to address. You may wish to find out why a particular user group is not accessing the portal, so you may want to conduct research on this particular profile.

Sources of participants

Participants can be sourced from a number of areas depending on your profiling goals.

Sources of participants may include:

Methods to attract

Attracting participants can be the most difficult part of user profiling. The following table shows some of the methods used to attract participants.

Note: In all cases you will need to be very specific about the type of participant you are trying to attract. You will need to identify any relevant information, such as age, gender, occupation, or education.

Methods Used to Attract Participants
Method Advantages Disadvantages
Using a third party
Examples:  Charitable organisation, council, Business Enterprise Centre, school.
  • Third party organisations have good networks of contacts.
  • They can arrange and screen participants as well as organise venues.
  • You can liaise directly with one person, saving you time.
  • Can be of assistance with either large or small numbers of participants.
  • They may only be able to source participants in their local area. This can be a problem if you are trying to arrange participants in multiple locations.
  • They will require a fee for their services.
Market research firms
  • Market research firms have good networks of contacts.
  • They can arrange and screen participants as well as organise venues.
  • Some organisations can perform the profiling for you.
  • They can often recruit participants from across the country.
  • You can liaise directly with one person, saving you time.
  • They will require a fee for their services.
  • They will only be of assistance where large numbers (over 100) of participants are involved.
Advertising on your web site
  • Easy to administer.
  • Cost effective.
  • Can reach large numbers of people in many locations at the one time.
 You will only attract users who are familiar with your site and are knowledgeable of the internet.
Advertising in the newspaper
  • Easy to administer.
  • Inexpensive to place the advertisement.
  • Can potentially reach large numbers of people at one time.
  • Response rates are variable.
  • Can be time consuming to screen a large number of responses for suitability.
Unsolicited letters to organisations or participants
  • Easy to administer.
  • Cost effective.
  • Can reach large numbers of people in many locations at the one time.
  • Response rates may be low.
  • You may need to send many letters to attract a reasonable response.
  • Can be time consuming.
Cold call followed by letter
  • Suitable for sourcing small numbers of participants.
  • Can screen participants while talking to them.
  • Can be easy if a specific group is being targeted.
    Example: Doctors, dentists, or people that can be identified in the yellow pages.
  • Labour intensive and time consuming.
  • You may need to make many calls to attract a reasonable number of participants.
Using staff and their families
  • Suitable for sourcing small numbers of participants.
  • Can screen participants while talking to them.
 May introduce a bias since staff may be familiar with the services, information, and the "vocabulary" of the agency.

Screening participants

It is always a good idea to screen participants for their suitability before arranging an interview/focus group. The profiling categories and attributes you have identified will assist you to screen the participants you wish to use for profiling.

See: User Profiling - Concepts for further information about categories and attributes.

Offering incentives

It is common practice to offer incentives to thank participants for taking the time out of their schedules to be part of the profiling/testing process. You should check with your organisation about what would be considered appropriate.

Note: Cash payments to participants may have tax implications. You should always seek advice before offering a cash payment.

Contact for information on this page: nsip@finance.gov.au

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Last Modified: 3 February, 2009