Implementing a large, longitudinal study of any sample is a major undertaking. The challenges are compounded when the study involves multiple sites and a high-risk sample. This article outlines the methodology for the Pathways to Desistance study, a multisite, longitudinal study of serious juvenile offenders, and discusses the key operational decisions with the greatest impact on the study design.

/pdf/operational-lessons-from-the-pathways-to-desistance-project-3fearjl28b.pdf

Operational lessons from the pathways to desistance project.

Minimizing participant attrition in panel studies through the use of effective retention and tracking strategies: Review and recommendations

Obtaining follow-up interviews for treatment evaluation ☆

Maintaining study cohorts is a key element of longitudinal research. Participant attrition introduces the possibility of bias and limits the generalizability of a study's findings, but with appropriate planning it is possible to sustain contact with even the most transient participants. This paper reviews the essential elements of tracking and follow-up of marginalized populations, which are (1) collection of contact information, (2) thorough organization of tracking efforts, (3) attention to staff training and support, (4) use of phone and mail follow-up, (5) use of incentives, (6) establishing rapport with participants, (7) assurance of confidentiality, (8) use of agency tracking, (9) use of field tracking, and (10) attention to safety concerns. Diligent application of these tracking strategies allows researchers to achieve follow-up rates of 75 percent to 97 percent with vulnerable populations such as homeless, mentally ill adults, injection drug users, and runaway youth.

Tracking and Follow-Up of Marginalized Populations: A Review

Locating study subjects: predictors and successful search strategies with inmates released from a U.S. county jail.

Staff at a VA-sponsored drug treatment center followed up dropouts one year after they left the program; they were able to locate 80 per cent of those clients. The staff found several contacts useful in locating the difficult-to-find population, including the addicts' mothers, other drug programs, prisons, and the department of motor vehicles. To make it easier for researchers to track down dropouts, the author suggests that when patients enter a program they should be required to give names, addresses, and telephone numbers of at least two friends or relatives who would know where they were. Staff should emphasize to patients that the infonnation is for research purposes and that confidentiality will be preserved.

Robert J. Craig

Papers

Locating drug addicts who have dropped out of treatment.