RECRUITING SCHOOL DISTRICTS INTO A DISSEMINATION STUDY

A case study was performed on 28 school districts that were being recruited for a randomized controlled study to disseminate tobacco prevention programs to North Carolina schools. The case study examined the recruitment process to understand why school districts chose to participate or decline inclusion in the randomized controlled dissemination study. To recruit school districts, the research team developed a five-step strategy of homework, priming the pump, making contact. holding a summit and establishing follow up. The districts that were recruited and entered the study completed a five-phase decision making process of legitimacy, information seeking, expressions of limitations, expressions of engagement and commitment. The study suggests that the recruitment strategy developed by the research team was influential in facilitating district decision makers through the five-phase process. © 1991 Oxford University Press.