American Journal of Nursing Research. 2017, 5(6), 200-201
DOI: 10.12691/ajnr-5-6-1
Open AccessCommentary
Claire Bethel1,
1Clinical Education, Banner Health, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Pub. Date: November 10, 2017
Cite this paper:
Claire Bethel. An Approach to Using Social Media as a Research Platform. American Journal of Nursing Research. 2017; 5(6):200-201. doi: 10.12691/ajnr-5-6-1
Abstract
AIM: To examine the use of the social and technology features of Facebook to recruit research participants from a closed-group. BACKGROUND: Limited research in healthcare focuses on the use of Facebook despite the many opportunities that exist. METHODS: The experience of gaining access to and recruiting participants from a closed-Facebook group using two different types of posts to advertise the study. DISCUSSION: The paper focuses on the lead author’s experience of recruiting participants from a closed-group on Facebook and her experience of using two different types of posts to advertise the study. A personal post with a picture of the lead author receiving a grant to conduct the research resulted in 32% of the completed survey responses in 24 hours. CONCLUSION: Using a closed-group on Facebook was an inexpensive and successful method to survey many respondents with a shared identity from all over the United States in a short period of time. Future researchers choosing to utilize social media as a research platform should share their methods to better understand how social media can be leveraged in nursing research.Keywords:
Facebook social media research methods survey travel nurse nursing research onboarding orientation recruitment
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References:
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