Surveys

A Cambridge University scholar has boosted participation in her research by turning it into a charity fundraiser.

To have so many people contributing their time and experiences to this project has widened our knowledge of how and why people use various contraceptive methods, and the problems they have experienced with them.

Susan Walker

Susan Walker managed to raise more than £500 by asking volunteers to fill in an anonymous questionnaire on the understanding that three pounds would then be donated to a charity of the participant's choice.

The innovative technique has helped to expand the range of data she now has available to develop her study, which looks at people's use of contraceptives in relation to their attitudes towards their own body.

Response rates for questionnaires tend to be very low. Researchers use various techniques to increase these. Susan Walker's technique increased participation in her study without compromising the confidentiality of those who completed the questionnaire. In the end, 188 people agreed to take part.

"To have so many people contributing their time and experiences to this project has widened our knowledge of how and why people use various contraceptive methods, and the problems they have experienced with them," Susan Walker said.

"Hopefully this will help to improve contraceptive provisions in the future; to be able to donate to so many charities was an added bonus. I am very grateful to everyone who took part."

The research was carried out in conjunction with Cambridge Contraceptive and Sexual Health Service. The money raised was donated to a large number of charities both nationally and internationally including the NSPCC, Premrose, Arthur Rank House, MAGPAS and the Blue Cross, along with donations to the Children's Fire and Burns Trust, Macmillan Cancer Care, Help the Aged, Oxfam and many others.


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