Recommendations for Internet-Based Qualitative Health Research With Hard-to-Reach Populations

Wilkerson, J. Michael; Iantaffi, Alex; Grey, Jeremy A.; Bockting, Walter; Rosser, B. R. Simon

doi:10.1177/1049732314524635

Cited by 112 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(59 reference statements)

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“…Adolescents engaged in moderated conversation on message boards that were part of a secure website; message boards functioned similarly to asynchronous online focus groups (Wilkerson et al, 2014). By using non-identifying screen names, participants may have perceived fewer barriers to disclosing their thoughts about sexual pleasure.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While the purpose of the intervention was to promote condom use and other healthy decision-making, health educators on message boards encouraged adolescents to fully express their thoughts and feelings about a topic. For this reason, message boards may also be viewed as a forum for asynchronous focus groups on a specific topic (Wilkerson, Iantaffi, Grey, Bockting, & Rosser, 2014). …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sexually Experienced Adolescents’ Thoughts About Sexual Pleasure

Saliares

Wilkerson

Brady

2016

The Journal of Sex Research

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Little research on adolescents has examined developmentally normative facets of sexuality that are not obviously linked to physical health. The purpose of this secondary data analysis was to qualitatively analyze adolescents’ thoughts about and experiences with sexual pleasure. The study sample consisted of 56 sexually experienced, ethnically diverse, predominantly female adolescents who were participating in a web-based intervention to promote healthy sexual decision-making. Comments on one message board, Sexual Pleasure: Does It Matter to You?, provided an opportunity to examine adolescents’ thoughts about and experiences with sexual pleasure, as well as their communication with partners about that topic. Adolescents’ comments demonstrated that they experience difficulties with pleasure in their sexual relationships. Adolescents generally believed that men are more likely than women to feel pleasure due to differences that include biology, understanding of one’s body, and control over partnered sexual behavior. Adolescents defined inequality of received pleasure differently and discussed contexts in which inequality may be acceptable. Adolescents expressed motivation to communicate with partners about sexual pleasure. However, their statements suggested they often lack the skills to do so. Future prevention and intervention programs should equip adolescents with skills to communicate with partners about sexual pleasure.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexually Experienced Adolescents’ Thoughts About Sexual Pleasure

Saliares

Wilkerson

Brady

2016

The Journal of Sex Research

Self Cite

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“…It is not surprising, therefore, that all but one gay or bisexual man completed this entire process online. Given our experience using online chat in other studies of gay and bisexual men [20], we expected more participants to choose this option. However, when given the option to be interviewed by telephone or online chat, all but one participant chose telephone.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Online Versus Telephone Methods to Recruit and Interview Older Gay and Bisexual Men Treated for Prostate Cancer: Findings from the Restore Study

Rosser¹,

Capistrant²

2016

JMIR Cancer

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BackgroundRecently, researchers have faced the challenge of conflicting recommendations for online versus traditional methods to recruit and interview older, sexual minority men. Older populations represent the cohort least likely to be online, necessitating the use of traditional research methods, such as telephone or in-person interviews. By contrast, gay and bisexual men represent a population of early adopters of new technology, both in general and for medical research. In a study of older gay and bisexual men with prostate cancer, we asked whether respondents preferred online versus offline methods for data collection. Given the paucity of research on how to recruit older gay and bisexual men in general, and older gay and bisexual men with prostate cancer in particular, we conducted an observational study to identify participant preferences when participating in research studies.ObjectiveTo test online versus offline recruitment demographic data collection, and interview preferences of older gay and bisexual men with prostate cancer.MethodsEmail blasts were sent from a website providing support services for gay and bisexual men with prostate cancer, supplemented with an email invitation from the web-host. All invitations provided information via the study website address and a toll-free telephone number. Study tasks included respondents being screened, giving informed consent, completing a short survey collecting demographic data, and a 60-75 minute telephone or Internet chat interview. All materials stressed that enrollees could participate in each task using either online methods or by telephone, whichever they preferred.ResultsA total of 74 men were screened into the study, and 30 were interviewed. The average age of the participants was 63 years (standard deviation 6.9, range 48-75 years), with most residing in 14 American states, and one temporarily located overseas. For screening, consent, and the collection of demographic data, 97% (29/30) of the participants completed these tasks using online methods. For the interview, 97% (29/30) chose to be interviewed by telephone, rather than Internet chat.ConclusionsOlder gay and bisexual men, when given choices, appear to prefer a mixed methods approach to qualitative investigations. For most aspects of the study, the older men chose online methods; the exception was the interview, in which case almost all preferred telephone. We speculate that a combination of the deeply personal nature of the topic (sexual effects of prostate cancer treatment), unfamiliarity with online chat, and possibly the subject burden involved in extensive typing contributed to the preference of telephone versus online chat. Recruitment of older men into this study showed good geographic diversity. We recommend that other qualitative researchers consider a mixed methods approach when recruiting older populations online.

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“…We asked the medical directors to forward the information to care coordinators, and snowball sampling was also used to identify and contact other programs using care coordinators (Wilkerson et al, 2014).…”

Section: Recruitment Of Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lessons Learned Designing and Using an Online Discussion Forum for Care Coordinators in Primary Care

et al. 2016

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While an increasing number of researchers are using online discussion forums for qualitative research, few authors have documented their experiences and lessons learned to demonstrate this method's viability and validity in health services research. We comprehensively describe our experiences, from start to finish, of designing and using an asynchronous online discussion forum for collecting and analyzing information elicited from care coordinators in Patient-Centered Medical Homes across the United States. Our lessons learned from each phase, including planning, designing, implementing, using, and ending this private online discussion forum, provide some recommendations for other health services researchers considering this method. An asynchronous online discussion forum is a feasible, efficient, and effective method to conduct a qualitative study, particularly when subjects are health professionals.

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Recommendations for Internet-Based Qualitative Health Research With Hard-to-Reach Populations

Cited by 112 publications

References 30 publications

Sexually Experienced Adolescents’ Thoughts About Sexual Pleasure

Sexually Experienced Adolescents’ Thoughts About Sexual Pleasure

Online Versus Telephone Methods to Recruit and Interview Older Gay and Bisexual Men Treated for Prostate Cancer: Findings from the Restore Study

Lessons Learned Designing and Using an Online Discussion Forum for Care Coordinators in Primary Care

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