This digital document is a journal article from Evaluation and Program Planning, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Description: Research on vulnerable and highly mobile populations is often hindered by high drop-out rates that decrease the validity of study outcomes. To successfully minimize attrition, investigators require effective and efficient strategies. Investigators must, therefore, rely on successful and efficient tracking strategies to minimize attrition. This paper presents follow-up data from a four-year study of 225 homeless adults with psychiatric disabilities in New York City and outlines tracking procedures that resulted in retention rates ranging from 96% at 6-months to 87% at 48-months. Also included are descriptions of the study team's structure and other factors that provide a contextual background for the study. Finally, demographic and residential data are presented in order to portray the characteristics of the sample.