When research does not succeed: recruitment problems arising from an abandoned research project into suicide recovery

Abstract

Suicide is a significant health problem for younger men in New Zealand. Epidemiological studies over the past two years indicate that men in the age range of 18 to 34 years are among those most likely to end their lives by suicide. The predominantly quantitative research into suicide clearly details risk factors. What has been lacking is research into the perspectives of those affected by suicidal impulses and intentions, and what influences their recovery. This study recognised this gap and set out to study the recovery experiences of younger men, aged 18 to 34 years, who had recently been suicidal, with a high degree of intent. It intended to use a qualitative research design, informed and influenced by grounded theory to interview between five and eight men. The research question that underpinned this study was, "what is happening for younger men as they recover from being suicidal?" The intention was to uncover the participants' perspectives of their recovery, then use grounded theory coding and analysis to conceptualise the data embedded in their subjective accounts. This however did not occur, as the study encountered major problems with recruitment. As a result, the research design was amended twice, to open up the criteria for selection, which in the end changed to include men and women, aged 18 years and older. These changes failed to attract any participants, leading to the abandonment of the research. The thesis then changed its focus to ethics and recruitment, analysing the problems that occurred. Ethical considerations strongly influenced the design of the study. The decision to recruit using another mental health service was made primarily for ethical reasons: to ensure maximum safety in screening participants. Feedback on recruitment problems was gathered from recruitment staff and then analysed as "research within research" with reference to the literature. Whilst the experiences of this study have not led to success in completing the original research goals, they have led to a thorough study of recruitment, as an issue in research. However, there continues to be a significant need for further research into recovery from being suicidal. To undertake such research in future, two different recruitment strategies are recommended. These include: using others to recruit, incorporating some different approaches than those used in this study, and recruiting through public advertising. Such research has the potential to enhance nurses' understanding of recovery from being suicidal and as a result improve the nursing care of suicidal service users. Also highlighted is the lack of attention given to the subject of recruitment in social science and nursing research texts. I recommend the topic of recruitment be included in such texts and be a focus in Masters level nursing courses on research.