The impact of email recruitment on our understanding of college smoking.
Email recruitment is growing in popularity; however, this convenience sampling method may yield very different results from prior convenience sampling methods. Participants in the current study were 825 undergraduate students, 446 recruited through a campus wide email and 379 recruited through Introductory Psychology courses, who completed an on-line survey on smoking and health. Outcomes varied significantly by group. Introductory Psychology students reported higher smoker self-concept, more pros of smoking, and were more likely to view smoking as a method of negative affect reduction. The current study suggests that recruitment method can bias our understanding of smoking behaviors among college students.
Norton
Tina R
TR
Department of Psychology, Clarkson University, P.O. Box 5825, Potsdam, NY 13699, USA. tnorton@clarkson.edu
Lazev
Amy B
AB
Schnoll
Robert A
RA
Miller
Suzanne M
SM
D000293:Adolescent; D034742:Electronic Mail; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018579:Patient Selection; D011594:Psychometrics; D012107:Research Design; D015983:Selection Bias; D012649:Self Concept; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult