Are our recruitment practices for sex studies working across gender? The effect of topic and gender of recruiter on participation rates of university men and women

The current study examined some of the factors that may contribute to the low rates of participation of male versus female students in sexual coercion research. Specifically, we tested whether recruitment rates are adversely affected by the topic of the research or the gender of the recruiter. Introductory psychology classes were randomly assigned to a male or female recruiter and to either the memory or sex research condition. Three significant predictors assisted in differentiating students who signed up for the studies from those who did not. Overall, female students were more likely to volunteer to participate. In addition, all students were more likely to sign up for the sex research, especially when they were recruited by a male research assistant. This study confirmed our hypothesis that men are not volunteering to participate at a rate equal to their enrollment. However this problem appears to be a general concern for all researchers who use similar recruitment practices rather than specifically for researchers of sexual coercion.