Recruiting busy people for interviews can feel like herding cats, and most researchers know the struggle well—facing refusals, time crunches, and the dreaded silence from potential participants.
Despite its importance, successful recruitment in qualitative research is often an under-communicated topic. This article serves as a practical guide for recruiting busy bees such as teachers, electricians, and health workers.
Drawing from my own experiences, I have gathered twelve tried-and-true tips to enhance recruitment success. They range from leveraging your network and keeping your communications sharp to ditching fancy titles and mastering the art of following up.
The goal is to equip novice researchers with the tools they need to engage busy participants while adhering to ethical standards and ensuring their own sanity in the process.
