When Social Media Recruiting Goes Wrong: A Cautionary Tale of Sample Engagement

Authors

Ezra N. S. Lockhart, Northcentral UniversityFollow
Joel B. Goodin, Northcentral UniversityFollow

Abstract

Doctoral candidates’ experiences with recruiting participants vary in many ways. While some execute plans with ease, others implement their strategic plan for recruitment only to find that it does not work well or does not work at all. While successful recruitment is rarely reflected upon, the candidate who experiences unexpected difficulty with recruitment has several potential negative effects including increased time to degree completion, increased program and recruitment costs, and increased potential for dropout. In this case study, we present a cautionary tale of sample engagement from the gaming community where a doctoral candidate experienced doxxing, social media banning, and long-lasting effects during recruitment for their qualitative study. In addition to the narrative account, we, as a former student-committee member team, reflect on the situation and provide recommendations for preventative measures to avoid similar situations.

Keywords

qualitative, dissertation, recruitment, doctoral dropout, doxxing

Author Bio(s)

Ezra Lockhart, Ph.D. completed his doctorate in Psychology with a specialization in addictions. He concurrently pursued careers in addictions, mental health counseling, and information technology and obtained director-level positions in each field. Dr. Lockhart has 20 years of experience supporting a wide range of disorders. Dr. Lockhart holds addiction and marriage and family therapy licenses in multiple states and is the elected Ethics chair for Louisiana Association for Marriage & Family Therapy. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed to: enslockhart@gmail.com

Joel B. Goodin, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Northcentral University, after earning his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with a specialization in Cognition and Learning from Florida State University. His areas of expertise and research include at-risk populations, expertise, emotion, motivation, stress, uncertainty, and performance. He has taught in higher education for over 15 years, teaching at all levels (undergraduate, master's, and doctoral). He created the Theory of Activating Uncertainty and the Goodin Model of Optimal Learning. His primary academic aim is to develop the optimal model for virtue-driven dissertation success, emphasizing the dissertation faculty-student relationship. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed to: jgoodin@ncu.edu

Publication Date

8-24-2024

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2024.5082

Recommended APA Citation

Lockhart, E. N., & Goodin, J. B. (2024). When Social Media Recruiting Goes Wrong: A Cautionary Tale of Sample Engagement. The Qualitative Report, 29(8), 2144-2155. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2024.5082

ORCID ID

0000-0002-4435-9053, 0000-0002-2520-7468