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. 2022 Dec:41:100635.
doi: 10.1016/j.epidem.2022.100635. Epub 2022 Sep 22.

A mixed methods analysis of participation in a social contact survey

Emily Nixon  1 , Taru Silvonen  2 , Antoine Barreaux  3 , Rachel Kwiatkowska  2 , Adam Trickey  4 , Amy Thomas  4 , Becky Ali  2 , Georgia Treneman-Evans  2 , Hannah Christensen  2 , Ellen Brooks-Pollock  2 , Sarah Denford  2
Affiliations

A mixed methods analysis of participation in a social contact survey

Emily Nixon et al. Epidemics. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Social contact survey data forms a core component of modern epidemic models: however, there has been little assessment of the potential biases in such data.

Methods: We conducted focus groups with university students who had (n = 13) and had never (n = 14) completed a social contact survey during the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative findings were explored quantitatively by analysing participation data.

Results: The opportunity to contribute to COVID-19 research, to be heard and feel useful were frequently reported motivators for participating in the contact survey. Reductions in survey engagement following lifting of COVID-19 restrictions may have occurred because the research was perceived to be less critical and/or because the participants were busier and had more contacts. Having a high number of contacts to report, uncertainty around how to report each contact, and concerns around confidentiality were identified as factors leading to inaccurate reporting. Focus groups participants thought that financial incentives or provision of study results would encourage participation.

Conclusions: Incentives could improve engagement with social contact surveys. Qualitative research can inform the format, timing, and wording of surveys to optimise completion and accuracy.

Keywords: Epidemic modelling; Focus groups; Infectious disease; Mixed methods; Research engagement; Social contact surveys.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest HC is a principal investigator on a grant funded by GlaxoSmithKline unrelated to this research. All other authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Demographic of students, taking part in the focus group or completing CONQUEST until the 6th December 2021 compared to the overall demographics of UoB students.
(A) sex, (B) ethnicity, (C) graduate status.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Differences over time in a population of university students
(a) in their participation in the CONQUEST survey, (b) their daily number of social contacts, (c) the number of SARS-CoV-2 cases in a UK university (black) and vaccination uptake in age group 18−24 in England (blue) (Vaccinations in the UK and Coronavirus in the UK, 2022). Panel (d) shows university milestones (labels with black lines), national policy measures (labels with blue lines). For panel (a), non-responders are those who did not complete the CONQUEST survey that had been sent to them via an email link reminder that week. The error bars in panel b give one standard deviation above and below the mean.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. The proportion of students completing the CONQUEST survey stratified by the time of completion: afternoon, evening, lunchtime, morning or night between 23rd June 2020 to 5th January 2022.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. Summary of the main results of the thematic analysis of the focus group transcripts.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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