Using email to recruit participants

Taking part in a research project is arguably part of the wider university experience, but there is a problem with email being used as a method to recruit participants. The University block email policy says amongst other things:

'Block mailing to all staff or students is only permitted where the content of the email is

  • Time critical and cannot be circulated by any other means
  • Relevant to all recipients
  • Of a serious nature such as building closures, health and safety issues, emergency repairs to power, heat or lighting which will affect all recipients, etc.'

Usually, none of these issues applies to the recruitment of participants to research projects. The policy is the result of the University's implementation of legislation like the Data Protection Act and the Electronic Privacy Regulations, because at present the University system does not enable students or staff to opt out of receiving emails. It may be easier for researchers to use email, but mass mailings are not popular and they contravene these regulations. UREC cannot therefore agree to the recruitment of research participants by use of block emails on the university system.

Alternatives for recruiting staff and students to research studies once approval has been given by UREC:

Research-activity Google Group

Interested members of staff and students at Brookes have signed up to a mailing group, Research-activity, for which they will receive notification of research studies being carried out by staff or PhD students. The UREC administrator is the owner of the group and will post details of research studies once approved by UREC. Wording for this recruitment method must be included with the other supporting papers in the UREC application.

Sign up to the Research-activity group here to receive details of studies requiring the participation of students and staff. By joining this list you are under no obligation to take part in any research study.

Message of the Day

An alternative method of reaching students via computer is to use the Message of the Day facility to request for volunteers, send your message to motd@brookes.ac.uk. This is a page that students see when they first login to their Brookes accounts. Similarly, staff may be approached via messages on the intranet in individual Faculties.