Jun 27, 2018 - Validity and feasibility of Facebook advertising in recruiting ... 2014; (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/140623/dq140623a-eng.pdf). 4.
Validity and feasibility of Facebook advertising in recruiting participants for a cross-sectional survey in Newfoundland and Labrador Lance G. Shaver, MPH(c), Ahmed Khawer, MPH(c), Peizhong Peter Wang, MD, MPH, PhD Division of Community Health and Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Discussion
Results
Introduction Traditional Survey Research is Costly and Inefficient • The capacity to conduct survey research using traditional recruitment methods, such as telephone or postal surveys, is increasingly constrained by growing costs & dwindling response rates (1) • Only 70% of NL households have landlines (2,3), limiting the ability of telephone-recruitment in achieving well-representative samples (2) Potential of Facebook • Facebook shows promise as a cost-effective tool for recruiting representative samples (4) • 94% of internet-users in the Atlantic region use Facebook (5), including a growing older demographic (6) • Ads allow purposive sampling by targeting demographics, location, interests, and behaviours. • Few studies have evaluated Facebook recruitment in Canada, fewer in older adults (4), and, to our knowledge, none in Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) Research Questions With respect to our survey on cancer awareness and prevention-behaviours of NL adults ages 35-74, 1. Is Facebook advertising a feasible, valid and cost-effective method for recruiting a representative sample for cross-sectional health survey research in Newfoundland and Labrador? 2. Is it effective in recruiting older populations, ages 35-74? 3. Can targeted-ads be used to improve representation from specific subpopulations?
Ad Metrics and Response • Excluded ineligible participants (n=56), resulting in a total of n=1048 recruits • Potential ad reach of 110,000 Facebook users 35-65+ (Facebook prevented specifying age ranges above 65). In comparison, 2016 Census showed 295,300 people 35-74 in NL Cost-Effectiveness • Facebook advertising is cost-effective n=1048 participants, cost of $2,289.00, or $2.18 per recruit. • vs. telephone-recruited postal survey: n=400 quoted at $23,316.05, or $35.52 per recruit. Representativeness • Statistically, gender, age, and education-status distributions not consistent with population distributions, while geography & high/low income were consistent at sig. level 0.01 (Table 2) • Post tests: only small variation in age distribution from census; only “60-64” age group inconsistent • Gross overrepresentation of women and higher education-status, while the highest (>$100,000) & lowest (
