Course Project: Pilot SurveyFor the past six weeks, you have been actively planning the construction of a survey containing good-fit items that efficiently tap the construct under investigation (attac

PSTD in Women

Abstract

The paper presents the target audience regarding their demographics, the sample for the pilot study and an explanation to show how to choose the sample size such that it is representative of the population. Further, the document shows the procedures for recruiting survey participants.

Keywords: PSTD, sample size, women, recruiting procedures.

PSTD in Women

The Target Audience as per their Demographics

An estimated 7.8% of Americans do experience PSTD at some point in their lives. Primarily, are twice as likely as men to develop PSTD. Consequently, both men and women will benefit from findings of PSTD. Notably, women at the age of 14 to 19 years, as well as those at the span of 20 to 30 years will savor the benefits the PSTD in women survey. Women who are suffering depression and are requesting for abortion will also beneficiaries of the PSTD findings as well as single-living women and women who smoke. Additionally, women who have had sexual abuse and intimate violence are also beneficiaries of the survey. The average age of onset of PSTD is 19 years of age with 25% of cases occurring at the age of 14 years. PSTD affects 7.7 million adults of the U.S. population.

The Sample Size of the Study

The sample size is part of the population chosen for a survey or experiment. A large sample group can yield more accurate study results, but excessive responses can be expensive. The minimum sample is a 100. The best maximum sample size is around 10% of the population if it does not exceed 1000. For instance, if a population is 6000, 10% of 6000 is 600. In a population of 150000, 10% is 1500. 1500, exceeds 1000, so in this case, the maximum is 1000. Sampling more than 1000 people will not add much to the accuracy of the results based on the extra time and money it costs. In this case, if there are 80 hospitals under survey, then 10% of 80 equals to 8. The researcher can focus on the population in the eight hospitals if then it ranges between 100 and 1000. If for instance, the researcher has money and time to survey at least 500 patients; then that will give reasonably accurate results. If the researcher has inadequate resources, then choose the largest that you can manage that is more than a 100.

Procedures to Recruit Survey Population

Participant recruitment for research does involve some activities including sourcing eligible candidates, screening them, explaining and keeping them motivated throughout the study. Recruitment may take longer than the researcher anticipates and may balloon due to challenges. Nonetheless, sometimes studies that success in recruiting large numbers of patients, participation rates are low. Realistically, only 3-20% of the eligible participants’ pool chooses to participate.

Start with your Users

If you are researching for your institution, reach out to people from your customer base. Consequently, watch for bias as they may those fanboys and love your research item which may loathe your study.

Post on Social Media

Creating a Google Form and sharing the link on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. To increase your response rate, you can mention about an incentive in the message. For instance, "Kindly assist me to investigate more about PSTD in women $10 for only 30 minutes of your time." You will have a variety of individuals responding, so have an emphasis on your screener (view below) to filter unsuitable candidates.

Engage a Recruitment Agency

There are plenty of recruitment agencies who have large pools of people available for research though it is not cheap. In your screener, be attentive to eliminate professional participants who know how to game around to get the reward.

Word of Mouth/ Snowball Sampling

This procedure helps you build out your potential pool from current participants. Word of mouth referrals helps deliver comprehensive results within the recruiter's network of friends and family. Usually, the cost is low, and the quality is high.

Broadcast Email

While making use of recruiting emails, you send them to an interest group or an email list of an organization. The cost is low if your file has many subscribers. As a result, it could efficiently help you to recruit a good number of survey participants. However, response fatigue is a risk with this method. Also, one can view it as an exploitation method sending repeated recruitment emails resulting to the recruiter being flagged as spam. After recruiting the participants, it is advisable to screen and set expectations to avoid disappointments.