Description

Maintaining superior follow-up rates in a longitudinal study: Experiences from the college life study

KATHRYN B VINCENT, SARAH J KASPERSKI, KIMBERLY M CALDEIRA, LAURA M GARNIER-DYKSTRA

Center on Young Adult Health and Development (CYAHD), University of Maryland School of Public Health, Department of Family Science, College Park, MD, USA

GILLIAN M PINCHEVSKY

Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

KEVIN E O’GRADY

Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

AMELIA M ARRIA

Center on Young Adult Health and Development (CYAHD), University of Maryland School of Public Health, Department of Family Science, College Park, MD and Treatment Research Institute, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Abstract

Longitudinal studies are often considered to be a gold standard for research, but the operational management of such studies is not often discussed in detail; this paper describes strategies used to track and maintain high levels of participation in a longitudinal study involving annual personal interviews with a cohort of 1,253 undergraduates (first-time, first-year students at time of enrollment) at a large public mid-Atlantic university.

Keywords: college students, follow-up rates, longitudinal studies, methodology, recruitment, study attrition, young adults