Significant numbers of mothers could not be contacted through information provided by fathers. We tried to follow up on phone interviews or in-person meetings with over 100 mothers, and the vast majority had multiple residences or cancelled phone numbers. Qualitative methods also demand a presence which is integral to achieving a trust and rapport with fathers. I learned about everyday barriers to involvement by seeing them myself and asking subsequent questions of fathers. It is important to make strong efforts to match researchers and fathers by comparable gender, race and class background.
Programmatic support can also help researchers address the problems with turnover.
Sporadic involvement with researchers and inability to follow up with men over time has resulted in limited findings and generalizability.