Focus Group In-Person Recruitment Instructions

IRB Approved at the Study Level

Dec 10, 2024

#41276205.1

Recruiting, Retaining, and Promoting Servicemembers who Identify as Hispanic or Latino/Latina

Tab B: In-Person Focus Group Recruitment Instructions

[DATE]

Dear [LOCAL POC]:

Thank you for assisting us with the recruitment efforts and logistics for the focus groups included in our “Recruiting, Retaining, and Promoting Servicemembers who Identify as Hispanic or Latino/Latina” research study. The goal of this study, sponsored by Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (OUSD P&R) Office for Civil Rights & Equal Opportunity Policy (OCREOP), is to a gain better understanding of the challenges that Servicemembers face in their recruitment retention, and promotion, especially for those who identify as Hispanic. The results from this study will be used by OUSD P&R OCREOP and the Services to develop strategies on how to tackle these challenges through changes to policies, processes, and programs, and to ensure that Servicemembers are supported through appropriate and needed resources.

Per our email/phone discussion, CNA will be visiting [LOCATION] during [DATES]. We need your assistance with the following:

(1) Identifying eligible active-duty Servicemembers to participate in 90-minute focus groups

(2) Securing conference style rooms to hold the focus groups (some of which may be concurrent)

Focus Group Participant Recruitment

We need your help in identifying eligible focus group participants and providing the CNA study team with a list of those eligible Servicemembers (including names, email addresses, pay grades, and whether they are Hispanic or not). Below is a description of eligible participants, but please note that you should NOT email CNA any information containing personally identifiable information (PII). The CNA study team will work with you to ensure that you can transmit the eligible participant list to us via secure means (e.g., DoD SAFE).

Provided that the population sizes are sufficient, we will conduct separate focus groups with [LIST THE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES WE’RE INTERESTED IN]. Depending on interest, availability, and population size, the goal is to conduct [NUMBER RANGE] separate focus groups for each of these populations, with each group consisting of between 8 and 10 Servicemembers, for ease of facilitation and discussion. Because of the focus of the study, we would greatly appreciate your effort in ensuring that the list of eligible Servicemembers includes a good mix of personnel of different ethnicities (Hispanic and non-Hispanic), races, and genders.

For your awareness, CNA will continue the recruitment process after receiving the eligible participant list from you. This includes CNA emailing with eligible Servicemembers to invite them to participate, emailing with interested individuals to assign them to specific focus groups, and emailing a calendar invitation to confirmed participants with information specific to their assigned focus group sessions.

Participation in a focus group is completely voluntary, and no one should be forced to participate. Before each focus group session begins (and after any present leadership has left the room), we will inform the group about the goals of the study and focus groups and then provide them the ability to opt out if they do not want to participate. Please note that to maintain the confidentiality of the participants, no additional personnel will be permitted to attend the focus group sessions.

Logistical Needs for Focus Groups

We also ask that you help us identify and secure meeting rooms on base for us to hold the focus groups.

Logistical needs for each focus group include:

• Smaller conference-style rooms that can comfortably hold up to 12 people (the participants, plus two CNA staff), preferably with chairs arranged so that the participants are facing each other, in a circular or rectangular format

  • Each focus group will last approximately 90 minutes, and we ask that you please reserve each room with a 15-minute cushion before each session (the room should be reserved for a total of 1 hour and 45 minutes for each focus group).

• We may need to schedule up to four groups per day (up to two groups in the morning and two groups in the afternoon). When working with us to reserve rooms for these groups, please leave at least 30 minutes between the two morning sessions and the two afternoon sessions, assuming the sessions will take place in the same room. If they will be in different locations, please leave at least one hour between morning sessions and between afternoon sessions. Please also allow for at least a one-hour lunch break.

If you have any questions, or need additional information, you can contact either me at [PHONE NUMBER] or [EMAIL ADDRESS]. Thank you again for your willingness to assist us with these important focus groups. We sincerely appreciate your efforts.

Very respectfully,

[NAME]

[ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE]

In-Person Focus Group Recruitment Instructions 2