“From Birth to Death, From Beginning to End”: Participant Experience and the Meaning of Research Participation in a Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study
Research participants are vital for the success of a birth cohort study. Despite their scientific importance and large participant numbers, research on participant experience in birth cohort studies is scarce. This study explores participant experience, its different dimensions and meaning of the ex...
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crsagepubl:10.1177/21582440221099297 2023-05-15T17:42:43+02:00 “From Birth to Death, From Beginning to End”: Participant Experience and the Meaning of Research Participation in a Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study Rönkä, Anna Reetta Academy of Finland 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/21582440221099297 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/21582440221099297 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/21582440221099297 en eng SAGE Publications https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC-BY SAGE Open volume 12, issue 2, page 215824402210992 ISSN 2158-2440 2158-2440 General Social Sciences General Arts and Humanities journal-article 2022 crsagepubl https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221099297 2022-05-26T08:12:29Z Research participants are vital for the success of a birth cohort study. Despite their scientific importance and large participant numbers, research on participant experience in birth cohort studies is scarce. This study explores participant experience, its different dimensions and meaning of the experience for the participants’ lives. The data comes from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. In total, 49 semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants having full participation records and then subjected to qualitative content and thematic analysis. According to the findings, the participant experience is multidimensional, consisting of four dimensions; personal, relational, societal, and scientific. The experience evoked both positive and negative feelings and a sense of belongingness. Motivations to continue, perceived benefits of the study, consequences of participation, and the theme of trust were grouped under the four dimensions. The meaning of the study participation, and the level of personal investment and involvement in the study varied a lot among active study participants, forming a continuum from a very strong to a weak. The findings of this study contribute to the theoretical conceptualization of the participant experience. They help to better understand the participant’s perspective, and the different aspects that participating in a longitudinal research project may entail as a subjective and a relational experience. The results may contribute to research design and aid in enhancing participant satisfaction. That is important, as conducting high-quality research depends on motivated and committed research participants. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Finland SAGE Publications (via Crossref) SAGE Open 12 2 215824402210992 |
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SAGE Publications (via Crossref) |
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English |
topic |
General Social Sciences General Arts and Humanities |
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General Social Sciences General Arts and Humanities Rönkä, Anna Reetta “From Birth to Death, From Beginning to End”: Participant Experience and the Meaning of Research Participation in a Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study |
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General Social Sciences General Arts and Humanities |
description |
Research participants are vital for the success of a birth cohort study. Despite their scientific importance and large participant numbers, research on participant experience in birth cohort studies is scarce. This study explores participant experience, its different dimensions and meaning of the experience for the participants’ lives. The data comes from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. In total, 49 semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants having full participation records and then subjected to qualitative content and thematic analysis. According to the findings, the participant experience is multidimensional, consisting of four dimensions; personal, relational, societal, and scientific. The experience evoked both positive and negative feelings and a sense of belongingness. Motivations to continue, perceived benefits of the study, consequences of participation, and the theme of trust were grouped under the four dimensions. The meaning of the study participation, and the level of personal investment and involvement in the study varied a lot among active study participants, forming a continuum from a very strong to a weak. The findings of this study contribute to the theoretical conceptualization of the participant experience. They help to better understand the participant’s perspective, and the different aspects that participating in a longitudinal research project may entail as a subjective and a relational experience. The results may contribute to research design and aid in enhancing participant satisfaction. That is important, as conducting high-quality research depends on motivated and committed research participants. |
author2 |
Academy of Finland |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rönkä, Anna Reetta |
author_facet |
Rönkä, Anna Reetta |
author_sort |
Rönkä, Anna Reetta |
title |
“From Birth to Death, From Beginning to End”: Participant Experience and the Meaning of Research Participation in a Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study |
title_short |
“From Birth to Death, From Beginning to End”: Participant Experience and the Meaning of Research Participation in a Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study |
title_full |
“From Birth to Death, From Beginning to End”: Participant Experience and the Meaning of Research Participation in a Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study |
title_fullStr |
“From Birth to Death, From Beginning to End”: Participant Experience and the Meaning of Research Participation in a Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study |
title_full_unstemmed |
“From Birth to Death, From Beginning to End”: Participant Experience and the Meaning of Research Participation in a Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study |
title_sort |
“from birth to death, from beginning to end”: participant experience and the meaning of research participation in a longitudinal birth cohort study |
publisher |
SAGE Publications |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/21582440221099297 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/21582440221099297 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/21582440221099297 |
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Northern Finland |
genre_facet |
Northern Finland |
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SAGE Open volume 12, issue 2, page 215824402210992 ISSN 2158-2440 2158-2440 |
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https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
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CC-BY |
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https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221099297 |
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SAGE Open |
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12 |
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2 |
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215824402210992 |
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