About the APP

The American Population Panel (APP) was established in June 2017 as a group of volunteer members who agree to participate in social science and health-related studies managed by CHRR at The Ohio State University. The panel was formed in response to a key question: How can researchers effectively contact willing participants in the digital age?

To explore this challenge, CHRR conducted a recruitment study from June 1 to November 12, 2017, which included a short survey on social media usage. This study helped inform recruitment strategies and improve outreach to potential survey participants.

Study overview

The purpose of the study was to determine the most effective methods for reaching potential survey respondents. Traditional outreach strategies, such as mailed invitations, landline calls, and in-person recruitment, have become increasingly challenging due to changing communication habits. Many individuals discard mailed invitations, rarely answer calls from unknown numbers, and hesitate to open their doors to strangers. Additionally, emails may be filtered into spam folders, further reducing response rates.

Given the widespread use of social media, researchers explored whether digital platforms could serve as an efficient means of recruiting survey participants who might otherwise be difficult to reach. The study assessed the effectiveness of using social media to recruit participants and compared response rates from social media marketing campaigns with those from traditional recruitment methods, including telephone calls, email invitations, and mailed postcards. Our primary goal was to create a repository (panel) of potential survey participants who could be contacted for future studies.

As part of the assessment, we sent 20,000 emails, called 10,000 landlines and 10,000 cellphones, mailed 1,000 postcards, and ran a social media campaign. Individuals who chose to join the panel were asked which social media platforms they use by selecting all that applied. The objective of the survey was to inform future social media recruitment efforts by identifying the platforms people frequented, while recognizing that different platforms appeal to different demographic groups.

Study insights

As anticipated, traditional recruitment methods resulted in far fewer responses compared to a social media campaign. Traditional methods remained time-consuming and more expensive per conversion than digital strategies.

For example, among the 1,000 postcards mailed, only one individual responded. In contrast, landline calls recruited 102 panelists, cellphone calls added 285 panelists, and email invitations resulted in 181 new members (with two additional panelists recruited through other means). The 571 newly recruited panelists who registered through traditional methods during the study indicated the social media platforms they used. The results showed that Facebook was the most selected platform. However, a small subset of panelists did not use social media at all. Specifically:

6% of panelists recruited via cellphone calls reported not having any social media accounts,
4% of those contacted via landline calls did not have social media accounts, and
2% of email-recruited panelists did not have social media accounts.

Although these percentages were small, they highlighted the importance of maintaining a diverse recruitment strategy that includes traditional methods to reach individuals who are not active on social media.

Figure 1: Social Media Platform Usage among Recruits (click image to enlarge) Fig. 1 chart data

Figure 2: Panelists with Facebook Accounts per Recruitment Channel (click image to enlarge) Fig. 2 chart data

Figure 3: Distribution of Panelists per Recruitment Channel (click image to enlarge) Fig. 3 chart data

Growing panel membership

Based on this information, we prioritized social media strategies in our recruitment efforts for the APP. These digital outreach methods have evolved over time and have assisted in growing panel membership in a relatively short period.

However, traditional recruitment methods remain an important component of outreach efforts, particularly when targeting specific population subgroups. We have used in-person recruitment at libraries, community centers and shelters, and large public events such as state fairs. By balancing traditional and digital recruitment methods, the panel can effectively reach a diverse range of participants while harnessing the reach of social media platforms as an economically viable strategy for the recruitment process.

The study was funded by CHRR at The Ohio State University and led by Dr. Elizabeth Cooksey, Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Senior Researcher, CHRR.

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