Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2016 Aug;106(8):1422-6.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303198. Epub 2016 May 19.

Population Survey Features and Response Rates: A Randomized Experiment

Yimeng Guo  1 , Jacek A Kopec  1 , Jolanda Cibere  1 , Linda C Li  1 , Charles H Goldsmith  1
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Population Survey Features and Response Rates: A Randomized Experiment

Yimeng Guo et al. Am J Public Health. 2016 Aug.

Abstract

Objectives: To study the effects of several survey features on response rates in a general population health survey.

Methods: In 2012 and 2013, 8000 households in British Columbia, Canada, were randomly allocated to 1 of 7 survey variants, each containing a different combination of survey features. Features compared included administration modes (paper vs online), prepaid incentive ($2 coin vs none), lottery incentive (instant vs end-of-study), questionnaire length (10 minutes vs 30 minutes), and sampling frame (InfoCanada vs Canada Post).

Results: The overall response rate across the 7 groups was 27.9% (range = 17.1-43.4). All survey features except the sampling frame were associated with statistically significant differences in response rates. The survey mode elicited the largest effect on the odds of response (odds ratio [OR] = 2.04; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.61, 2.59), whereas the sampling frame showed the least effect (OR = 1.14; 95% CI = 0.98, 1.34). The highest response was achieved by mailing a short paper survey with a prepaid incentive.

Conclusions: In a mailed general population health survey in Canada, a 40% to 50% response rate can be expected. Questionnaire administration mode, survey length, and type of incentive affect response rates.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1—
FIGURE 1—
Differences in Response Rates Attributable to Survey Factors: British Columbia, Canada, 2012–2013
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Beebe TJ, Rey E, Ziegenfuss JY et al. Shortening a survey and using alternative forms of prenotification: impact on response rate and quality. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2010;10:50. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Groves RM. Survey Errors and Survey Costs. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons; 1989.
    1. Loosveldt G, Storms V. Measuring public opinions about surveys. Int J Public Opin Res. 2007;20(1):74–89.
    1. Berk ML, Schur CL, Feldman J. Twenty-five years of health surveys: does more data mean better data? Health Aff (Millwood) 2007;26(6):1599–1611. - PubMed
    1. Rossi P, Henry W, James D, Anderson AB. Sample Surveys: History, Current Practice, and Future Prospects. San Diego, CA: Academic Press; 2003.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources