Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Methodol. Sep 20, 2023; 13(4): 210-222
Published online Sep 20, 2023. doi: 10.5662/wjm.v13.i4.210
Utilization of online systems to promote youth participation in research: A methodological study
Marie Salem, Lance Pollack, Alex Zepeda, Kathleen P Tebb
Marie Salem, Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, United States
Lance Pollack, Division of Prevention Science, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94105, United States
Alex Zepeda, Research, Los Angeles Trust for Children's Health, Los Angeles, CA 90017, United States
Kathleen P Tebb, Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, United States
Author contributions: Salem M and Tebb KP performed the research; Tebb KP, and Pollack L designed the research study; Pollack L analyzed the data; Salem M, Tebb KP, and Zepeda A wrote the manuscript; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Dissemination and Implementation Award, No. DI-2020C2-20372.
Institutional review board statement: This basic study was approved by the Institutional Review Board ethics committee at University of California San Francisco (Review Board Number: 10-02730).
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the corresponding author at marie.salem@ucsf.edu. Participant consent was not obtained for data sharing, but all data collected was anonymized and risk of identification is low.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Marie Salem, MPH, Research Scientist, Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California San Francisco, 490 Illinois St, San Francisco, CA 94158, United States. mariesalemk@gmail.com
Received: January 27, 2023
Peer-review started: January 27, 2023
First decision: April 20, 2023
Revised: June 9, 2023
Accepted: July 6, 2023
Article in press: July 6, 2023
Published online: September 20, 2023
Processing time: 235 Days and 10.6 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Online surveys can align with youth’s increased use of the internet and can be a mechanism for expanding youth participation in research. The utilization of mobile technologies can extend the geographical reach and promote the participation of diverse adolescent populations in health research. Using mobile technology for health research data collection can also improve data quality. However, the advantages and drawbacks of online systems used for research need to be carefully considered before utilizing such methodologies.

Research motivation

There are few methodology papers that describe online study processes in the same field as our study, adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH). These studies that describe online methodologies include an online human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention study called YouthNet, an online adolescent and young adult human immunodeficiency virus study called Just/Us, and an adolescent SRH study focused on online social media recruitment called SpeakOut. However, there is a lack of research on how to specifically involve adolescents in research and the methods used to ensure diversity, keep the adolescents retained, and maintain data security.

Research objectives

The purpose of this study is to describe and discuss the strengths and limitations of an online system developed to recruit adolescent girls for a sexual health research study and follow them for 3 months. It aims to address the gap of methodology papers and expand the literature on online data collection process for adolescent health research.

Research methods

This methodology paper examines the use of an online system to recruit and follow participants to evaluate a mobile SRH application, Health-E You/Salud iTuTM, for adolescent females attending school-based health centers (SBHCs) across the US. The paper goes into detail regarding the following methodologies for our online study: Data collection and survey processes, the electronic gift card incentive system, survey settings, data storage and security, and data monitoring.

Research results

This online recruitment and retention system enabled participant recruitment at 26 different SBHCs in seven states across the United States. Between September 2021 and June 2022, 415 adolescent girls were screened using the Qualtrics online survey platform, and 182 were eligible to participate. Participants were racially, geographically, and linguistically diverse; most of the participants (89.4%) were non-White, and 40.8% spoke Spanish. Limitations of this system included reliance on internet access (via Wi-Fi or cell service), which was not universally available or reliable, and some issues individuals outside the study discovering the survey link and completing multiple surveys.

Research conclusions

Online systems for health research can increase the reach and diversity of study participants, reduce costs for research personnel time and travel, allow for continued study operation when in-person visits are limited (such as during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic), and connect youth with research using technology. The methods detailed using online surveys, online gift card distribution, and online data monitoring and tracking are new and add to the lack of methodology papers. However, there are challenges and limitations to online systems, which include limited internet access, intermittent internet connection, data security concerns, and the potential for fraudulent users. These challenges should be considered prior to using online systems for research.

Research perspectives

This case study of an online system for health research has implications for future research. Ensuring the security of participants’ data is a top priority as is maintaining the authenticity of participants and data quality and as shown in our study, added measures are critical to safeguard the distribution of electronic gift cards. It is important for studies to continue to identify strategies that include diverse populations through online systems and consider hybrid approaches when online inclusion is not possible. Lastly, there is a need to research the online system limitations related to engagement and the connection between the researcher and participant or clinic staff.