Recruitment issues in school-based drug and alcohol research with young people

The study of young people’s substance use often relies on using schools as sources of participants. However, school participation rates in UK surveys are usually low and so successful research must employ a range of techniques to encourage schools to take part. This paper discuss the author’s experiences of setting up two survey projects, from ethics to data collection and the challenges and successes in each stage. The authors then provide recommendations for future researchers embarking on similar projects. This guidance will be useful for PhD candidates or early career researchers particularly beginning projects in substance use among young people and will prepare other researchers so as to avoid unexpected delays in recruitment and data collection.