Recruitment of healthy participants for studies on risks for alcoholism: effectiveness of random digit dialling

AIMS: To compare the effectiveness of two strategies for recruiting healthy research volunteers. METHODS: Demographic characteristics and recruitment costs of participants who completed a laboratory study examining risk factors for alcoholism recruited through random digit dialling (N = 11) and community advertisements (N = 102) were compared. RESULTS: Advertisement yielded a more representative sample 76% Caucasian, less well educated (M = 15.2 years, SEM = 0.2; P < 0.05), more equally divided by family history of alcoholism (43% FH- and 57% FH+), and lower in SES (M = 42.8, SEM = 1.3; P < 0.05)] and was more cost effective (72 dollars vs 2272 dollars per participant) than random digit dialling. CONCLUSIONS: Findings are relevant to alcohol researchers trying to determine the recruitment strategy that will yield the most representative sample at the lowest cost.