A Guide to Recruiting Busy Participants in Qualitative Research: Twelve Tips That Will Enhance Your Chances of Success

Abstract

Recruiting busy people for interviews can feel like herding cats, and most researchers know the struggle well—facing refusals, time crunches, and the dreaded silence from potential participants. Despite its importance, successful recruitment in qualitative research is often an under-communicated topic. This article serves as a practical guide for recruiting busy bees such as teachers, electricians, and health workers. Drawing from my own experiences, I have gathered twelve tried-and-true tips to enhance recruitment success. They range from leveraging your network and keeping your communications sharp to ditching fancy titles and mastering the art of following up. The goal is to equip novice researchers with the tools they need to engage busy participants while adhering to ethical standards and ensuring their own sanity in the process.

Introduction

Let us face it; we are all busy. However, no one is busier than a researcher trying to recruit other busy people to participate in their research, and in this case: qualitative interviews. Many researchers depend on interviews to gain knowledge on our topic of interest. Yet, recruiting people to participate in qualitative research, and interviews specifically, is challenging at best (Williams, 2020). While most student textbooks take for granted the task of attracting participants to research projects (Bonisteel et al., 2021; Staksrud, 2019), there has been an upsurge in research on the recruitment of vulnerable or “hard-to-reach” participants (Bonevski et al., 2014; Shaghaghi et al., 2011), as well as on recruitment of interviewees in general (Archibald & Munce, 2015; Kristensen & Ravn, 2015). Although I found the existing literature immensely helpful for preparing and addressing recruitment issues, there seems to be less of a focus on successful strategies for recruiting participants (Negrin et al., 2022). These strategies are crucial for enhancing both the trustworthiness and the overall success of qualitative studies. Additionally, accessing elaborate research accounts may be a daunting task for students and novice researchers. As such, I aim to provide a snapshot of my recruitment journey, followed by twelve hands-on and easily accessible tips to enhance the chance of recruitment success.

I do not have a clear-cut definition of busy people. Even so, we all have a sense of who they are. Have you ever met a teacher who had too much time on their hands? Or a principal? Or maybe a health worker? Neither have I. As a postdoctoral education researcher, I have spent the last year trying to recruit participants for a large project on the transition from the school-based part of vocational education and training to company-based training (apprenticeships). I wanted to interview the individual responsible for hiring apprentices about what they look for in an applicant. The interview guide was carefully developed by the research team to balance the need for in-depth information about companies’ recruitment and selection processes while recognizing participants’ severely limited time. As you can imagine, it was not an easy task, but an important one. The questions and the topics were not sensitive. What became sensitive, it seemed, was time.

These were busy people; people hard at work, whether it was in retail, managing an electricity business, or being an administrator in a nursing home. We all know that electricians are in high demand and are paid by the hour. Health care personnel have faced budget cuts and restrictions, which limit the time they can spend with a patient or a client. I get why spending an hour with a researcher would not be a top priority. While email number 250 was being sent out, simultaneously with updating my recruitment plan (whom had I contacted, and when), I had flashbacks of my time as a PhD candidate. I vividly remember spending a considerable amount of time during my first year trying to access school leadership teams to talk about how they support teachers in their work with shy students (see, e.g., Solberg et al., 2020; Solberg et al., 2021). Not only did I want one-on-one time with these people, but I also wanted to meet them together. Not an easy task, as school leadership personnel are not the easiest to gather in the same room due to their very busy schedules.

Of course, I am not saying “busyness” is the only reason for my recruitment struggles. While potential participants may have many reasons for providing an actual “yes,” such as helping themselves or others or being able to share something of interest to themselves (Peel et al., 2006), we know that the process is filled with “no’s,” silence, or “I’m too busy.” Reluctance to participate in qualitative interview research may be due to several reasons, such as, unfamiliarity with the research topic (see, e.g., Giorgi, 2021), sensitive topics (see, e.g., Gross & Gelman, 2025), representing a “hard-to-reach” population (Shaghaghi et al., 2011), or even the characteristics of the recruiter (Newington & Metcalfe, 2014). As such, I did not attribute the silence, “no’s,” ghosting, or reluctance (yes, I experienced them all) to a single reason. What I do know is that they all worked in jobs that were hands-on and busy, a fact that I needed to be aware of when recruiting them.

I cannot discuss recruitment without touching upon the importance of research ethics, and especially free and informed consent (Klykken, 2022; Roth & von Unger, 2018), which is a key part of recruiting participants. This means that it is up to the individual to decide whether they want to participate in your research. It is “voluntary and based on clear, unambiguous information about what engagement in the research will entail” (Klykken, 2022, p. 795). This also includes withdrawing consent at any time without the need to provide a reason. As I will come back to, there is a delicate balancing act between nagging and voluntary participation.

Fast forward to today, and I can proudly say that I have completed the recruitment phase of the project. I have interviewed approximately 30 people, all successfully recruited. Inspired by Staksrud’s (2019) brilliant and easily accessible article about ten types of informed consent that your supervisor never told you about, I want to provide twelve tips on successful recruitment of busy people. I present them now in a (relatively) random order.

No. 1: Name-Drop and Name-Drop Some More

This might be an easy way of saying use a mediator, or “a person who uses his/her formal or informal position and relationships to facilitate contact between a researcher and potential informants” (Kristensen & Ravn, 2015, p. 725). I concur. Use your network, whether it is your mother, colleagues, or someone else to identify people you are interested in, and then name-drop the one who identified them. People are way more likely to respond to your request if they feel like they are helping a friend out. That friend does not have to be you. Do keep in mind that leaning too hard on snowballing through your network might lead to a biased sample, so mixing it up with other recruitment strategies is important. For me, that would involve scouring websites and making the call (see tip 3).

No. 2: Write Your Email in Brief, and Then Briefer

Busy people will not read long emails. Write briefly, and then more briefly. Use bold for the important parts. Briefness is more important than politeness in some cases. Prioritize accordingly. My first email to electricity companies was too long—too extensive and full of detail. Too polite and full of empty phrases and “pleases.” After receiving zero responses, I cut the email down to essentials and name-dropped someone. The combination was pure gold!

No. 3: Dare to Pick up the Phone

It is scary to pick up the phone, I know. You may feel like you are imposing on busy lives (especially if you go straight to the phone before email). I imagined calling a sales representative in the middle of selling something to an enthusiastic customer, or disturbing a nurse on their way to care for sick patients. However, a phone call may be the foot in the door that you need. Then, you can provide all the information you need to obtain informed consent afterward.

No. 4: Avoid Titles (AKA do not Be Pretentious)

After introducing myself as a postdoctoral researcher, an electrician said to me: “I thought doctors were someone I called if I got sick.” Although this person accepted my invitation to take part in an interview with me, it became a potential distraction. People do not care about your title most of the time, unless it is to apply for funding (in that case, please do).

No. 5: Follow up, and Follow up Some More (but Record How and When you did)

Do not expect busy people to answer you straight away. Keep a document where you always note how and when you first contacted them and update the list as you go. Do not pretend they will remember your email request. And for goodness’ sake, do not leave it up to them to follow up at a later stage if needed. Some people want to participate, but their busy schedule does not allow them to prioritize you at the exact moment you make contact. Clarify when it is suitable to contact them again.

No. 6: Assure Confidentiality and Safety

People want to be able to speak freely, and assuring their confidentiality and safety is key. I do not necessarily mean the “safe storage of data” (though that is important), but that who they are and what they shared will be accessed only by people in the project group, and that you will anonymize them in potential publications.

No. 7: Be Extremely Flexible

Flexibility encompasses when, where, and how. An electrician said: “I’m only available at 7:30 before the team arrives and we leave the office for the day.” Me: “No worries.” A sales representative “would rather meet on Teams.” Me: “You bet.” A health worker would like to have a colleague join in. Me: “The more the merrier.” Being flexible (while keeping the integrity of the research of course) is key. You can sleep another day.

No. 8: Be ‘out’ There

Be “out there,” physically and mentally. Identify where “there” is and go. You never know when the right person might show up. For me, it was a conference where companies had network meetings. Two coffees later, one of the meeting participants provided me with two companies he thought would be interested in talking to me. He was right (see tip 1). However, it takes somewhat of a toll on you: You have to be mentally prepared to be “out there.” No one likes a blabbering researcher. Practice what you want to say in a mirror or on a friend you trust.

No. 9: Do not Take it Personally

You will get turned down, no matter how many names you drop or how nice, flexible, and to-the-point you are. You will get ghosted, even though you have an appointment. You may (like me) have a good office cry, but do not take it personally. Know that you are not alone.

No. 10: Highlight the Benefits

Normally, research does not have any immediate positive consequences for the participants. Kristensen and Ravn (2015) remind us of the importance of people experiencing the participation as meaningful and relevant to themselves, offering a space for reflection. What that meant for me was highlighting the outcomes of our research based on their invaluable insights. A key outcome was the potential impact on improving the transition from school to work: how knowledge about the selection of young apprentices is valuable when preparing youths for this transition. Additionally, I noted the benefits of getting their perspectives out there for others to learn from (see tip 11).

No. 11: Flattery will get you Somewhere

They say that flattery will get you nowhere. Not true. Some people may underestimate their potential contribution to your research. What I have learned is that providing them with assurance is valuable: “Your insights are incredibly valuable and will help us understand this topic better.” “There are no right or wrong answers.” We all know how good a confidence boost feels.

No. 12: Know When to Give up, but Never Actually Give up

Not everyone wants to take part in your research, and that is okay. It is necessary to know when to give up. Also, basic research ethics reminds us that participants do not need a reason to deny or withdraw their consent. Do keep in mind, though, that some people do not like to say “no” to your face, so they will ghost you (in that case, see no. 9). However, giving up on some participants does not mean giving up on recruitment. Remember to hang in there and know that you will get there.

Concluding Remarks

My recruitment journey is far from done. After all, I am on the brink of my academic career. My ambition is for this article to provide other novice researchers with tools for recruitment when trying to reach very busy people. The tips rest on the premise of research as an ethical endeavor, demanding attention throughout the whole process, from the conception of a project to its execution and dissemination. Even though recruiting busy people may not be the most gratifying part of being a postdoctoral researcher, I found the process immensely educational. I learned how to provide information about the project in a succinct way. I learned that most people are interested in participating in research that concerns them. And I learned that being turned down is part of life.

In conclusion, I hope this article ignites a small spark in the field of recruitment research, lighting up the path for researchers striving to gather valuable perspectives from constantly busy individuals. Remember, recruitment is not just about getting a foot in the door. Sometimes, it is about easing that door open with a flurry of name-drops, brief emails, and the occasional phone call. Happy recruiting!