Contemporary Challenges in School Recruitment for Criminological Survey Research: Lessons From the International Self-Report Delinquency Study in England, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States

Abstract

Several multiwave cross-national surveys have experienced drops in school participation for youth health and risk behavior (HRB) surveys in Western European countries. This article considers explanations for the challenge in recruiting schools for surveys in England, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States and the most important lessons learned during school recruitment for the third wave of the International Self-Report Delinquency Study in these four countries. Comparing school response rates for international academic surveys with those focused on HRB, schools have been increasingly less likely to participate in HRB surveys over the past two decades. However, considerable variation within and across surveys and countries suggests there are numerous influences on school recruitment, and there may be facilitators on which researchers could capitalize. We conclude that when planning future school-based HRB surveys, researchers should consider multiple strategies to engage schools from the outset, tailored to regional and national settings.

Situational Correlates of Adolescent Substance Use: An Improved Test of the Routine Activity Theory of Deviant Behavior

“…Although there are no specific reasons why substance use in these groups would be different from substance use in other groups, the non-random and unrepresentative nature of the sample of students might mean that the adolescents in our sample react differently to situations than a representative sample of the larger population. To prevent potential bias, future studies using stratified sampling designs should strive for acceptable participation rates at all stratification levels, not only at the level of the individual [see van der Gaag et al (2019) for strategies to improve participation rates of schools].…”

Are frequent offenders more difficult to find and less willing to participate? An analysis of unit non-response in an online survey among offenders

“… 2. Samples of young people are often school-based, and contacts with potential participants are established via the school administration at the premises of the school. Although obtaining cooperation from schools is a challenge in its own right (Van der Gaag et al, 2019), school-based sampling may create similar issues of potentially selective non-response. For example, truancy may be more common among delinquent youths. …”