Student-recruited samples in organizational research: A review, analysis, and guidelines for future research

Abstract

Student-recruited sampling, a technique involving the use of student recruiters to find participants on behalf of a researcher, has been increasingly used in organizational research; yet there has been little attempt to understand its implications for the conclusions scholars draw from research. In this study, we meta-analyse studies of engagement and perceptions of politics in order to examine whether student-recruited sampling leads to samples that differ from other samples and whether those differences result in different observed relationships between variables. We found that student-recruited samples were not substantively demographically different from non-student-recruited samples. Further, we found few differences in the observed correlations of student-recruited samples compared with non-student-recruited samples; the differences found would not lead to different practical conclusions from the findings. We discuss the implications of these results for future studies and provide guidance for researchers, reviewers, and editors regarding the use of student-recruited samples in organizational research. Practitioner points: The type of sample used can lead to over- or under-representation of demographic characteristics with the sample, which has unknown affects on analyses of data. Student-recruited samples may lead to smaller effect sizes of observed statistical relationships. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.