Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Jan 21;15(1):e10.
doi: 10.2196/jmir.2266.

Challenges for researchers investigating contraceptive use and pregnancy intentions of young women living in urban and rural areas of Australia: face-to-face discussions to increase participation in a web-based survey

Danielle L Herbert  1 , Deborah Loxton, Deborah Bateson, Edith Weisberg, Jayne C Lucke
Affiliations

Challenges for researchers investigating contraceptive use and pregnancy intentions of young women living in urban and rural areas of Australia: face-to-face discussions to increase participation in a web-based survey

Danielle L Herbert et al. J Med Internet Res. .

Abstract

Background: It is imperative to understand how to engage young women in research about issues that are important to them. There is limited reliable data on how young women access contraception in Australia especially in rural areas where services may be less available.

Objective: This paper identifies the challenges involved in engaging young Australian women aged 18-23 years to participate in a web-based survey on contraception and pregnancy and ensure their ongoing commitment to follow-up web-based surveys.

Methods: A group of young women, aged 18-23 years and living in urban and rural New South Wales, Australia, were recruited to participate in face-to-face discussions using several methods of recruitment: direct contact (face-to-face, telephone or email) and snowball sampling by potential participants inviting their friends. All discussions were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results: Twenty young women participated (urban, n=10: mean age 21.6 years; rural, n=10: 20.0 years) and all used computers or smart phones to access the internet on a daily basis. All participants were concerned about the cost of internet access and utilized free access to social media on their mobile phones. Their willingness to participate in a web-based survey was dependent on incentives with a preference for small financial rewards. Most participants were concerned about their personal details and survey responses remaining confidential and secure. The most appropriate survey would take up to 15 minutes to complete, be a mix of short and long questions and eye-catching with bright colours. Questions on the sensitive topics of sexual activity, contraception and pregnancy were acceptable if they could respond with "I prefer not to answer".

Conclusions: There are demographic, participation and survey design challenges in engaging young women in a web-based survey. Based on our findings, future research efforts are needed to understand the full extent of the role social media and incentives play in the decision of young women to participate in web-based research.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The research is funded by an ARC Linkage Grant that involves some cash and in-kind support from Family Planning NSW and Bayer Australia Ltd. The lead author (DH) was employed through the Linkage Project Grant. Deborah Loxton, Edith Weisberg, and Jayne Lucke are Investigators on the grant. Two co-authors (DB and EW) are employees of Family Planning NSW.

References

    1. Taft AJ, Hobbs MK, Hussainy SY, Amir LH, Stewart K, Smith AM, Shelley JM, Chapman CB. Unintended pregnancy in Australia: what more can we do? Med J Aust. 2011 Aug 15;195(4):166–7. - PubMed
    1. Lucke JC, Herbert DL, Loxton D, Weisberg E. Unintended pregnancies: reducing rates by improving access to contraception. Aust Fam Physician. 2011 Nov;40(11):849. http://www.racgp.org.au/afp/201111/44796 - PubMed
    1. Smith A, Agius P, Mitchell A, Barrett C, Pitts M. La Trobe University. Melbourne, Australia: 2009. [2013-01-07]. 6DV4AerfE Secondary Students and Sexual Health 2008: Results of the 4th National Survey of Australian Secondary Students, HIV/AIDS and Sexual Health http://www.latrobe.edu.au/arcshs/downloads/arcshs-research-publications/....
    1. Smith AM, Rissel CE, Richters J, Grulich AE, de Visser RO. Sex in Australia: the rationale and methods of the Australian Study of Health and Relationships. Aust N Z J Public Health. 2003;27(2):106–17. - PubMed
    1. Smith AM, Pitts MK, Shelley JM, Richters J, Ferris J. The Australian longitudinal study of health and relationships. BMC Public Health. 2007;7:139. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-7-139. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/7/139 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources