title: Strategies for motivating Latino couples' participation in qualitative health research and their effects on sample construction.
abstract: Many investigators report difficulties recruiting low-income Latinos into health research projects, especially when they seek to enroll more than one family member. We developed a series of strategies that proved effective in motivating candidates who were initially reluctant to enroll. There is a possibility that these strategies biased the composition of the sample. Predictably, the reasons participants gave for enrolling were correlated with the recruitment strategy that had brought them into the study. Furthermore, we found statistically significant associations between recruitment technique and key study variables (e.g., the domestic stability of the couple). By increasing investigators' ability to recruit Latinos, however, the strategies outlined should help to ensure that Latinos' experiences are given due weight in the deliberations of medical professionals and policymakers.
authors.affiliation: Center for Culture and Health, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles 90024-1759, USA. hprelora@ucla.edu
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Preloran
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Browner
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lieber
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000649:Amniocentesis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015982:Bias; D003657:Decision Making; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005191:Family Characteristics / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D015141:Los Angeles; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000523:psychology*; D009042:Motivation; D018579:Patient Selection; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D011247:Pregnancy; D012494:Sampling Studies; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins