Table 1.
Success of each recruitment strategy
| Strategy | Route | Completed surveys in final sample* | % of each recruitment method in final sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social media and the Internet | Google ads | 215 | 4 % |
| Facebook (inc Facebook ads) | 754 | 14 % | |
| 14 | 0.5 % | ||
| 183 | 3 % | ||
| Solicited blogs (e.g. GenomesUnzipped, Cambridge Network, Unique, Swan, Sanger, Wellcome Trust, Cambridge Science Centre); Advert and link on OMIM and Decipher | 92 | 2 % | |
| Advert in Mumsnet and Gransnet | 1,405 | 26 % | |
| Word of mouth (inc unsolicited blogs based on press releases, online newspaper articles, participants who completed the survey then emailing their friends about it and teachers using the survey in teaching) | 1,385 | 26 % | |
| Total | 4,048 | 75 % | |
| Traditional media | Press release picked up and articles on the research appearing on Channel 4 news, BBC news, Radio 4, Radio Cambridgeshire | 455 | 9 % |
| Total | 455 | 10 % | |
| Direct invitation | Email to AGNC, NIHR, Nuffield Council on Bioethics, Wellcome Trust, Sanger Institute | 575 | 11 % |
| DDD collaborators: handing out flyers, giving survey link to families and colleagues | 233 | 4 % | |
| Handing out flyers at: Royal Society Festival of Science 2013, Cheltenham Science Festival 2011, Cambridge Science Festival 2012, handed out at local conferences | 28 | <1 % | |
| Total | 836 | 15 % | |
| Grand total for recorded recruitment strategy | 5339 |
*Missing data on recruitment source = 1605