Abstract
Objective
This brief report describes social media-based advertising strategies employed to recruit an anonymous sample of young adults who had recently aged out of foster care to participate in an online survey.
Method
We disseminated targeted Facebook advertisements and relevant group postings describing a study for young adults who had recently aged out of foster care. Clicking on the ad redirected potential participants to our Qualtrics survey. Results of recruitment approaches with and without incentives, as well as data integrity check methods, are described.
Results
A sample of 56 young adults with a mean age of 21.2 (SD = 3.3) were enrolled in the study and completed an online questionnaire across two weeks of active recruitment (3 days of engaged survey participation). Participants were 64% female, 18% minority, and represented 16 states from all five regions of the US. Costs for Facebook advertisements and incentives ($5 per participant) disbursed were $3000. Recommendations based on methodological findings are presented.
Conclusions
Social media can be used to rapidly recruit a sample of young adults across all five regions of the US who have aged out of foster care using incentivized and anonymous survey methods. Methodological features can be utilized to support more efficient and successful data collection.