How would you feel if a researcher that you had once worked with contacted you to see how you were doing several years after the research study? And I suppose the crux of this question lies in the method of contact. Mainly, facebook. With over 400 million active users it is likely, especially with the teen population, that they have a FB account. I'm wondering if anybody would have objections to that or think it inappropriate.
Case in point. Most of the subjects in my study have been mostly lost to follow-up. (This could be either a good or bad sign for our study). So I was wondering about sending them a message on FB just to ask how they were doing. Not friending. Just sending a message.
As an adult male, it would be difficult not to feel inappropriate when trying to track down an adolescent female. It even feels inappropriate to even ask this question. Not to mention, I have no idea what an IRB or ethics panel would think about it. (Although I'm not trying to collect data.) But I worked with many of these families several times a week for several months and I can't help but wonder how they are doing.
Thoughts?
Case in point. Most of the subjects in my study have been mostly lost to follow-up. (This could be either a good or bad sign for our study). So I was wondering about sending them a message on FB just to ask how they were doing. Not friending. Just sending a message.
As an adult male, it would be difficult not to feel inappropriate when trying to track down an adolescent female. It even feels inappropriate to even ask this question. Not to mention, I have no idea what an IRB or ethics panel would think about it. (Although I'm not trying to collect data.) But I worked with many of these families several times a week for several months and I can't help but wonder how they are doing.
Thoughts?
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