Scheduled for Poster Session: The Impact of Physical Activity Across Society, Lifespans, and Cultures, Wednesday, April 9, 2008, 1:45 PM - 3:15 PM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall, Reseach Consortium Poster Sessions


Recruiting Middle Eastern American Young Adults for Physical Activity Research

David M. Kahan, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA

With the United States minority population recently surpassing 100 million, the study of morbidity and associated health behavior within immigrant and minority groups has become a pressing concern. The American Middle Eastern population has grown by 38.3% between the last two official censuses and demonstrates a high prevalence of various hypokinetic diseases. Objective assessment of physical activity behavior within this group is lacking and what research is conducted on morbidity status and its correlates has not focused on young adults and is geographically isolated to regions outside the southwest. Recruiting sufficient minority participants for health-related research is notoriously difficult; although methodology papers detailing recruitment procedures for various minority groups are readily available, they are not available for the young adult segment of Middle Eastern Americans – a demographic that is steeped in cultural norms yet more readily interfaces with westernized culture than older generations. This study quantified results of methods used to procure 240 Middle Eastern participants between the ages of 18-29 for a study in which physical activity was assessed through 7-day self-reported pedometer counts and duration of engagement in up to 22 sport and recreation activities. The investigator who is a cultural, linguistic, and religious outsider relied on 7 recruitment techniques over the 8.5 month data collection period: snowball sampling (48.3% of sample), flyer (15.8%), campus cultural/religious organizations (15.4%), research assistants who were also community members (10.8%), other techniques (e.g., health fair, personal acquaintance; 5.4%), and class presentations and departmental colleague referrals (2.1% each). Strategies aimed at community religious leaders and entrepreneurs outside college campuses were aborted due to inertia. While organizational level recruitment on campuses was modestly successful, active recruitment at the individual level was most fruitful. It was made possible by participants spreading word and providing reassuring encouragement to friends and relatives – a characteristic of Middle Easterners' social habitus – and devoted assistants with insider connections. Results of this study reinforce Aroian et al. (2006) findings/recommendations based on their study of strategies for recruiting Arab Muslim mothers and children for nursing research: (a) Experts' recommendations are not always accurate; (b) community gatekeepers are not particularly helpful; (c) personal contact is a successful means of recruitment; (d) ample budgeting of time is required; and (e) success is facilitated by community insiders who assist in the project.
Keyword(s): adult physical activity/fitness, measurement/evaluation, multiculturalism/cultural diversity

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