Abstract
BackgroundResponse rates in surveys have been falling over the last 20 years, leading to the need for novel approaches to enhance recruitment. This study describes strategies used to maximise recruitment to a home interview survey of mothers with young children living in areas of high deprivation.MethodsMothers of two year old children received a letter from their GP inviting them to take part in a survey on diet. Participants were subsequently recruited by a researcher. The researcher first tried to contact potential participants by telephone, to discuss the study and make an appointment to conduct a home interview. Where telephone numbers for women could not be obtained from GP records, web searches of publicly available databases were conducted. After obtaining correct telephone numbers, up to six attempts were made to establish contact by telephone. If this was unsuccessful, a postal request for telephone contact was made. Where no telephone contact was achieved, the researcher sent up to two appointments by post to conduct a home interview.ResultsParticipating GPs invited 372 women to take part in a home based interview study. GP practices provided telephone numbers for 162 women, of which 134 were valid numbers. The researcher identified a further 187 numbers from electronic directories. Further searches of GP records by practice staff yielded another 38 telephone numbers. Thus, telephone numbers were obtained for 99% of potential participants.The recruitment rate from telephone contacts was 77%. Most of the gain was achieved within four calls. For the remaining women, contact by post and home visits resulted in 18 further interviews, corresponding to 35% of the women not recruited by telephone. The final interview rate was 82%. This was possible because personal contact was established with 95% of potential participants.ConclusionThis study achieved a high response rate in a hard to reach group. This was mainly achieved by first establishing contact by telephone. The use of multiple sources identified the telephone numbers of almost all the sample. Multiple attempts at telephone contact followed by postal approaches led to a high home interview rate.
Highlights
Response rates in surveys have been falling over the last 20 years, leading to the need for novel approaches to enhance recruitment
Systematic reviews of postal questionnaire surveys have shown that response rates are increased by hand signed letters [6], repeated mailings and telephone contact [7,8]
Mothers were interviewed in their own homes using a computer aided personal interview (CAPI) which took approximately one hour to administer
Summary
Response rates in surveys have been falling over the last 20 years, leading to the need for novel approaches to enhance recruitment. Concern with survey non-response and the potential for introducing bias is long standing [1]. These concerns are increasing because of evidence that non-response rates in many countries have risen over time [2]. There is evidence that non-contact makes an important contribution to overall non-response [4] and that noncontact can result in substantial bias [5]. Considerable effort is often made to reduce non-response by making multiple attempts at contact through repeated calling, incentives to interviewers and respondents and introductory telephone calls. Systematic reviews of postal questionnaire surveys have shown that response rates are increased by hand signed letters [6], repeated mailings and telephone contact [7,8]. The key requirement for all such approaches is that accurate contact details are available
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
