Researching the researchers: Using a snowballing technique

Streeton, Rosemarie RGN, BSc, FETC
Cooke, Mary RGN, RNT, BSc, PGCE, MSc
Campbell, Professor Jackie PhD, MSc, BSc, MInstP, CPhys, Cert Ed

Rosemarie Streeton RGN, BSc, FETC, Collaborative Research Network Co-ordinator, Trent Focus. University of Nottingham, UK.
Mary Cooke RGN, RNT, BSc, PGCE, MSc, Lecturer, School of Nursing & Midwifery. University of Sheffield, UK.
Professor Jackie Campbell PhD, MSc, BSc, MInstP, CPhys, Cert Ed, Head of Research, Centre for Healthcare Education, University College Northampton, UK.

The work for this paper was conducted while the authors were employed by the Centre for Healthcare Education, University College Northampton, UK

Nurse Researcher 12(1):p 35-46, 2004.

In this paper, Rosemarie Streeton, Mary Cooke and Jackie Campbell focus on an aspect of the needs and obligations of the UK Research Governance Framework. In particular, they discuss the snowballing recruitment technique and how this relates to the demands of research governance. The discussion is supported by examples from the literature and from the authors' own experiences in identifying research activity and skills across health and social care within a single health authority in the UK