Instagram Recruitment
Recruitment advice for recruiting blind participants on instagram.
Searching for Participants
It's easiest to find eligible families via hashtags: #BlindBaby, #BlindToddler, and #BlindKidsCan are popular. Before contacting families, it's good to check that the child is probably within target age range and that the family seems to be in the U.S. (important for payment).
Messaging Families
Initial Message
Hi! My name is [YOUR NAME], and I am a PhD student in the Bergelson Lab at Duke University. We study how infants learn words from the world around them. I’m reaching out because we’re looking for families with 6-48 month old blind infants/toddlers for a research study which families can complete entirely from home. The study involves online surveys about the child’s vision history and language development. Families receive a $20 Amazon gift card for completing two surveys. Please let me know if you’re interested in more information about this research opportunity!
Follow-Up Message
Hello! Just following up to see if you'd like to participate in our language development research! I'm happy to answer any questions :)
Family Is Interested (Child Under 18 months)
Wonderful! Thank you so much! The study involves 2 online surveys: the first is about children's demographics and family history (https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6tYSkESZqecvMRn) and the second asks about which words your child knows (Generate WG CDI link).
Once you're done, just let me know what the best email is for you to receive the gift card! :) Happy to answer any questions on here or at elasi@duke.edu. Thank you again for your help with our research!
Family Is Interested (Child Over 18 months)
Wonderful! Thank you so much! The study involves 2 online surveys: the first is about children's demographics and family history (https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6tYSkESZqecvMRn) and the second asks about which words your child knows. There are two versions of this survey. If your child is already combining words together (like "Mommy up"), please use this link: Generate WS CDI link. If your child is combining words together just yet, please use this link: Generate WG CDI link.
Once you're done, just let me know what the best email is for you to receive the gift card! :) Happy to answer any questions on here or at elasi@duke.edu. Thank you again for your help with our research!
Family Wants More Info
Our lab studies vocabulary development in young children with visual impairments so that we can better understand how vision influences how children learn words. Here’s a link to our lab website! https://bergelsonlab.com/
We offer a couple of study options:
- Online surveys (8-48 months old): Families complete 2 online surveys, one about language development, and one about vision history and demographics. This helps us map out how blind infants develop vocabulary, and which factors influence language learning. Families receive a $20 Amazon gift card for completing the surveys
- Language recording (6-30 months old): We would mail you equipment to complete an at-home language recording, where your child would wear a vest with a special recorder in it (like a pedometer for words!) for one day. This helps us understand the link between the language children hear, and the words they learn! Families receive $55 for completing the recording (and accompanying surveys)
- (or, if you’re ever in North Carolina, we also have in-person studies!)
If you’re interested in completing the surveys, I’m posting the links here!
The first one is vision history and demographic information: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6tYSkESZqecvMRn.
The second one is for language development. There are two versions of this survey, and you only need to complete one. If your child is already combining words together (like “Mommy up!”), please use this link: https://webcdi.stanford.edu/form/background/18354/. If your child is not yet combining words together, please use this link: https://webcdi.stanford.edu/form/background/18353/
Once you’re done with the surveys, just let me know what the best email address is for you to receive the Amazon gift card :)
Family Wants to Know If They'll Receive Study Results
Yes! We are hoping to complete this study by the end of next year, and we'll send a summary of the results to all of our participating families, as well as a link to the final article, when it's ready :) We also keep links to any published articles on our lab website: https://bergelsonlab.com/publications.html
Family Completed Surveys
Great-Thank you so much! I'll send it to our payment team, and it should arrive in your inbox this week! Would you like to be contacted if there are additional research opportunities you might be eligible for? (And if so, do you prefer instagram or email?)
Nudging Family to Complete Surveys
Hello, just checking in to see if you're still interested in participating :)
Sending updated links for your convenience if you'd still like to be a part of this study: demographics survey: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6tYSkESZqecvMRnFor.
Language survey for infants combining words (like "Mommy up!") (WS CDI link) OR Language survey for infants not-yet combining words (WG CDI link)
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