Research Governance

Recruitment Criteria

The inclusion, exclusion, and selection requirements used to decide who should participate in a study.

Concept facts

Recruitment criteria are the conditions used to identify, include, exclude, or prioritize participants for a research or evaluation study.

Also known as
Participant criteria, sampling criteria, inclusion criteria, exclusion criteria, screening criteria
Used in
User research, usability testing, interviews, surveys, diary studies, accessibility studies, field studies
Interpret with
Study objective, target user group, sampling strategy, context of use, ethics, accessibility, recruitment feasibility, and bias risk

Plain-language explanation

Recruitment criteria define who should take part in a study. They help researchers avoid recruiting whoever is easiest to reach when the study needs evidence from a specific group.

Criteria may include experience level, role, location, device use, service history, accessibility needs, language, age range, decision responsibility, or familiarity with a task.

Good recruitment criteria connect directly to the research question. If the study is about first-time applicants, experienced staff should not be treated as a substitute.

Why it matters

Participant selection shapes the quality of research findings. A study with the wrong participants may produce findings that look clear but do not apply to the real users or context.

Recruitment criteria also help make limitations visible. If a study includes only urban smartphone users, it should not be presented as evidence about all service users.

In inclusive UX work, recruitment criteria help ensure that important user groups are not accidentally excluded.

Use contexts

  • Usability testing recruitment
  • Interview and field-study planning
  • Survey screening
  • Accessibility research
  • Diary study recruitment
  • Product discovery research
  • Service evaluation

Application guidance

Start with the study purpose and target population. Then define inclusion criteria, exclusion criteria, and any quotas or priority groups.

Use screening questions carefully. They should identify relevant experience without revealing the desired answer or pressuring people to qualify.

Document recruitment limitations. If some groups could not be reached, state that clearly when interpreting findings.

Practical example

A team evaluating a telemedicine onboarding flow needs participants who reflect the real service context: first-time patients, repeat patients, caregivers, low-bandwidth users, and people with limited digital confidence.

If the team recruits only urban smartphone users, the test may miss barriers faced by rural patients who rely on shared devices, agent assistance, or unstable connectivity. Recruitment criteria help the study include people whose context matches the risk profile of the service.

Interpretive boundaries

  • Recruitment criteria are not the same as demographic description.
  • Convenience recruitment can bias findings.
  • More participants do not fix poor participant fit.
  • Inclusion and exclusion criteria should be justified by the study objective.
  • Recruitment criteria should account for accessibility and power dynamics where relevant.

Applied at Userhub

Recruitment criteria are relevant when Userhub plans interviews, usability tests, surveys, field studies, and accessibility evaluations that require fit between participants and research questions.

See Userhub UX Lab for applied UX research and evaluation context.

Sources and references

  • Palinkas, L. A., Horwitz, S. M., Green, C. A., Wisdom, J. P., Duan, N., & Hoagwood, K. (2015). Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method implementation research. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 42(5), 533–544. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-013-0528-y
  • Patton, M. Q. (2015). Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods: Integrating Theory and Practice (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
  • Robinson, O. C. (2014). Sampling in interview-based qualitative research: A theoretical and practical guide. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 11(1), 25–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2013.801543
  • ISO. (2019). Ergonomics of human-system interaction — Part 210: Human-centred design for interactive systems (ISO Standard No. 9241-210:2019). International Organization for Standardization.

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Cite this entry

APA

Userhub. (2026). Recruitment Criteria. UX Reference. https://userhub.com.bd/reference/recruitment-criteria/