Face value: Recruitment lessons for research interviews

Abstract

Advances in online data collection spurred on by a pandemic springboard have been well recognised, but less attention has been given to corresponding approaches in recruitment. This article addresses this gap by examining whether recruitment challenges can be overcome by utilising personalised recordings to recruit interviewees. Developed to engage elite interviewees in challenging circumstances, this innovation opens up methodological considerations of recruitment. Drawing on researchers’ and participants’ reflexive accounts, the advantages and limitations are considered of employing online recruitment videos which centre on the researcher to initiate connection. The contribution of this analysis is to foreground multiple goals of recruitment and expose the complexity of establishing recruitment efficacy. Moreover, it identifies three challenges of recruitment methods concerned with alienation, exclusion, and researcher well-being. Notwithstanding such shortcomings, this article argues videos offer an alternative recruitment method appropriate for the digital age that could be utilised for both online and in-person interviews.