Eastern Canadian Sport and Exercise Psychology Symposium

March 2011, Waterloo, ON, Canada


Social media as a tool for participant recruitment and knowledge translation


Melissa J. Hopwood 1,2, Joseph Baker 1 , Clare MacMahon 2 & Damian Farrow 2,3


1. York University, Toronto, Canada

2. Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia

3. Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra, Australia


The increasing accessibility of the internet, the growing demand for digital information, and the booming popularity of social networking applications are changing the way researchers engage with the community. In fields such as sport and exercise psychology where findings can directly apply to the general population, social media can be a powerful tool for knowledge translation. Not only can social media be used to communicate research findings and stimulate discussion, but as demonstrated by the Pathways to the Podium Research Project, it can also be an effective tool for participant recruitment. This paper will discuss how an interactive website is being utilized in conjunction with Facebook, Twitter, and a free-access blog, to recruit participants and disseminate information relating to a multi-sport, multi-national investigation of the development of sport expertise. The usefulness of social media for engaging participants during long-term research projects will also be discussed.


To cite this presentation:

Hopwood, M.J., Baker, J., MacMahon, C., & Farrow, D. (2011, March). Social media as a tool for participant recruitment and knowledge translation. Eastern Canadian Sport & Exercise Psychology Symposium, Waterloo, Canada.

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An investigation of the development of sport expertise

Pathways to the Podium Research Project

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