Increasing Survey Response Research Articles

Increasing survey response rates: Framing international students as potentially vulnerable and hard-to-reach

In this qualitative study, I worked with international students to understand how researchers can increase response rates to international student experience surveys. I explicitly framed international students as a potentially vulnerable and hard-to-reach population, and then considered barriers associated with vulnerable populations and research participation. To answer my research questions, I interviewed 14 students who each self-identified as an international student and were enrolled at a public South-Atlantic university in the United States. I analyzed the qualitative data by conducting thematic analysis and determined there are three underlying concerns that influence survey response: feeling unheard, unknown intentions, and impersonal connections. The disconfirming evidence and limitations with this study’s research design suggest areas for future research, though I also illustrate how the findings can begin to inform the design and administration of international student experience surveys.

Evaluation of a Coach-Centered Youth ACL Injury Risk Reduction Workshop Using RE-AIM Sports Setting Framework

ABSTRACT Introduction/Purpose Our aim was to evaluate the feasibility and short-term effectiveness of a community-based anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk reduction program (IRP) live workshop using the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework modified for sports settings. Methods We conducted a prospective longitudinal study. Custom surveys were administered before and after the workshop and 1 month later to capture contextual variables needed to evaluate the program using four of the five RE-AIM domains. Live workshops were conducted at community centers throughout the northeastern US, and coaches were trained on risk factors for ACL injuries and how to identify and correct musculoskeletal movements known to increase ACL injury risk. Results Three hundred and seventy-three coaches attended the workshop, but 171 (46.4%; mean age, 33 ± 10 yr; 58% male) completed pre- and post-workshop surveys demonstrating significant improvements (P < 0.0001) in measures of program effectiveness, including knowledge (8.1%), attitudes/beliefs (18.0%), and confidence (39.6%). Overall, 98% of coaches were satisfied with the workshop delivery quality and content. Fifty-three coaches completed a 1-month follow-up survey, 75.5% of whom reported adoption of the ACL IRP. Of these, 100% reported implementing the ACL IRP before practice/training sessions, and 97.5% reported implementing it before games/competitions. Conclusions Overall, the results of this evaluation demonstrate the ACL IRP workshop feasibility and provide guidance for enhancement of the workshop. Our ACL IRP workshop was effective at increasing coaches’ knowledge and perspectives about injury risk reduction principles. Although the behavioral strategies incorporated in the program design promoted high ACL IRP workshop satisfaction, further improvements are needed to increase survey response rates during post-workshop follow-up.

Differential Electronic Survey Response: Does Survey Fatigue Affect Everyone Equally?

IntroductionSurvey fatigue, a phenomenon where respondents lose interest or lack motivation to complete surveys, can undermine rigorously designed studies. Research during the COVID-19 pandemic capitalized on electronic surveys for maximum distribution, but with lower response rates. Additionally, it is unclear how survey fatigue affects surgical education stakeholders. This study aims to determine how response rates to an electronic survey, as a proxy for survey fatigue, differ among medical students (MS), surgery residents, and surgery faculty. MethodsElectronic surveys evaluating the surgical clerkship educational environment were distributed to third year MS, residents, and faculty at three academic institutions. Two reminder emails were sent. Groups with low response rates (<30%) received additional prompting. Response rates were compared using a chi-square test. Demographics of all survey respondents were collected and discussed. Baseline characteristics of the MS class, residency program, and Department of Surgery faculty from one institution were gathered and compared to respondents. ResultsSurveys were sent to 283 third year MS, 190 surgery residents, and 374 surgical faculty. Response rates were 43%, 27%, and 20%, respectively (P < 0.0001). Male respondents, respondents of color, midlevel residents, and assistant professors had lower response rates compared to the baseline cohort. ConclusionsOur results demonstrate a statistically significant difference in survey response rates among MS, residents, and faculty, and have identified various targets for further investigation. Loss of interest in these groups should be further evaluated with a goal of decreasing survey fatigue, increasing survey response rates, and improving the quality of survey data collected.

Comparing the mobilising effects of in-person canvassing to postal reminders – experimental evidence from a longitudinal election study

ABSTRACT For hard-to-survey populations such as ethnic minorities and immigrants, increasing survey response rates is a crucial element of the fieldwork as these populations often show a higher likelihood of not participating compared with the native population. However, no study has so far compared different strategies for mobilisation within this group. Using data from the Immigrant German Election Study II, this experiment systematically compares the effects of home visits and postal reminders for the mobilisation of immigrant-origin non-respondents (i.e. persons classified as being from Turkey or from the former Soviet Union and its successor states) from a randomly drawn sample regarding the likelihood of participation in the first wave, signing up for a multi-wave panel, and taking part in all three panel waves. Multivariate analyses show that those in the treated home-visit group were more likely to take part in all stages of the survey design. Even though costs are higher than conventional postal reminders, home visits might be a useful strategy for cases in which increasing the response rate is an important goal, given a fixed, small number of potential respondents.

Pre-incentive Efficacy in Survey Response Rates in a Large Prospective Military Cohort

Declining survey response rates concern researchers aiming to ensure study validity. This article tested the effectiveness of multiple pre-incentives on increasing survey response to the Millennium Cohort Study. Participants consisted of U.S. military service members and veterans, and were randomly assigned to receive a $2 bill, $5 gift card, magnet, Apple iPad® lottery entry, or no pre-incentive. Participants who received the gift card or cash pre-incentive had the highest response rates and were significantly more likely to respond to the survey than those who did not receive a pre-incentive. There was no significant difference in survey response among the magnet or lottery entry groups compared to the no pre-incentive group. This study found that giving participants a monetary pre-incentive was an effective way to increase response rates, and thereby participant retention, in a hard-to-reach, highly mobile population, and re-engage participants who did not respond to a previous follow-up survey.

Does usage of monetary incentive impact the involvement in surveys? A systematic review and meta-analysis of 46 randomized controlled trials.

Surveys are an effective method for collecting a large quantity of data. However, incomplete responses to these surveys can affect the validity of the studies and introduce bias. Recent studies have suggested that monetary incentives may increase survey response rates. We intended to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the effect of monetary incentives on survey participation. A systematic search of electronic databases was conducted to collect studies assessing the impact of monetary incentives on survey participation. The primary outcome of interest was the response rates to incentives: money, lottery, and voucher. We used the Cochrane Collaboration tool to assess the risk of bias in randomized trials. We calculated the rate ratio (RR) with its 95% confidence interval (95% CI) using Review Manager Software (version 5.3). We used random-effects analysis and considered the data statistically significant with a P-value <0.05. Forty-six RCTs were included. A total of 109,648 participants from 14 countries were involved. The mean age of participants ranged from 15 to more than 60 years, with 27.5% being males, 16.7% being females, and the other 55.8% not reported. Our analysis showed a significant increase in response rate in the incentive group compared to the control group, irrespective of the incentive methods. Money was the most efficient way to increase the response rate (RR: 1.25; 95% CI: 1.16,1.35; P = < 0.00001) compared to voucher (RR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.08,1.31; P = < 0.0005) and lottery (RR: 1.12; 95% CI: 1.03,1.22; P = < 0.009). Monetary incentives encourage the response rate in surveys. Money was more effective than vouchers or lotteries. Therefore, researchers may include money as an incentive to improve the response rate while conducting surveys.

Impact of different financial incentive structures on a web-based health survey: do timing and amount matter?

Financial incentives improve response to electronic health surveys, yet little is known about how unconditional incentives (guaranteed regardless of survey completion), conditional incentives, and various combinations of incentives influence response rates. We compared electronic health survey completion with two different financial incentive structures. We invited women aged 30-64 years enrolled in a U.S. healthcare system and overdue for Pap screening to complete a web-based survey after receiving a mailed human papillomavirus (HPV) self-sampling kit in a pragmatic trial. HPV kit returners (n = 272) and non-returners (n = 1,083) were allocated to one of two different incentive structures: (1) Unconditional: $5 pre-incentive only (n = 653); (2) Combined: $2 pre-incentive plus $10 post-incentive conditional on completion (n = 702). Chi-square tests evaluated whether survey completion differed by incentive structure within kit return groups or was modified by kit return status. For each incentive-by-kit status group, the cost-per-survey response was calculated as: ([number invited*pre-incentive amount] + [number responses*post-incentive amount]) / number responses. Overall, survey response was higher in kit returners vs. kit non-returners (42.6% vs. 11.0%, P < 0.01), and survey response was higher in the combined (20.1%) vs. unconditional (14.4%) incentive group (P = 0.01). Kit return status did not modify the association between incentive type and survey response (P = 0.52). Among respondents, time to survey completion did not differ by incentive type among either kit returners or non-returners. Among returners, the cost-per-survey response was similar between groups ($13.57 unconditional; $14.15 combined); among non-returners, the cost was greater in the unconditional ($57.78) versus the combined ($25.22) group. A combined incentive can be cost-effective for increasing survey response in health services research, particularly in hard-to-reach populations.

Describing engagement practices for the Enhance Diversity Study using principles of Tailored Panel Management.

The purpose of this chapter is to examine engagement strategies used in a large, multisite evaluation study through the lens of Estrada, Woodcock, and Schultz's (2014) tailored panel management. The evaluation, called the Enhance Diversity Study (EDS), is part of an effort funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to increase diversity in NIH-funded research. The chapter discusses engagement with a large national cohort of student participants and outlines survey administration complexities, tailored engagement approaches, and annual survey response trends. It shows how the EDS expanded Estrada and colleagues' concepts of credibility by integrating branding strategies that permeated all aspects of the study. The resulting practices, as modified over time, extend knowledge of how to increase survey response rates across a multisite, multiprogram, longitudinal evaluation. As data collection continues, subsequent analysis may provide more clarity on the impact of these strategies on retention. Future researchers should explore the impacts of incorporating fully developed branding strategies to enhance study commitment and cohort retention. While past research has guided surveys through phone, mail, and multimodal distribution, more research is needed to understand how to engage participants and retain them in an increasingly competitive and digital world.

Does the use of telephone reminders to increase survey response rates affect outcome estimates? An ancillary analysis of a prospective cohort study of patients with low back pain

BackgroundResearch is often undertaken using patient-reported outcomes from questionnaires. Achieving a high response rate demands expensive and time-consuming methods like telephone reminders. However, it is unknown whether telephone reminders change outcome estimates or only affect the response rate in research of populations with low back pain (LBP). The aim is to compare baseline characteristics and the change in outcome between patients responding before and after receiving a telephone reminder.MethodsThis is an ancillary analysis of data from a prospective cohort study employing questionnaires from 812 adults with LBP lasting more than 3 months. Patients not responding to the 52-week questionnaire were sent reminder emails after two and 3 weeks and delivered postal reminders after 4 weeks. Patients still not responding were contacted by telephone, with a maximum of two attempts. Patients were categorised into three groups: 1) patients responding before a telephone reminder was performed; 2) patients responding after the telephone reminder and 3) patients not responding at all. A positive outcome was defined as a 30% improvement on the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire after 52 weeks.ResultsA total of 695 patients (85.2%) responded. Of these, 643 patients were classified in Group 1 and 52 patients were classified in Group 2. One hundred seventeen were classified in Group 3. No differences in outcome or baseline characteristics was found. In Group 1, 41.3% had a positive outcome, and in Group 2 48.9% had a positive outcome (P = 0.297). In group 3, non-respondents were younger, more often unemployed, more often smokers, more often reported co-morbidity, and reported higher depression scores than respondents.ConclusionsUsing a telephone reminder had no consequence on outcome estimates nor were there any differences in baseline characteristics between patients who responded before or after the telephone reminder.Trial registrationThe initial trial was registered in Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03058315).

How to Increase Survey Response and Manage the Postal and Face-to-Face Field Work of Participant Recruitment during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Note with Preliminary Evidence from Immigrant-Origin and Native Voters in a German Metropolis in Spring 2021

This note presents preliminary evidence from a postal and face-to-face recruitment field for a telephone survey during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawn from the city register of Duisburg, a metropolis of 500,000 inhabitants, voters eligible for the September 2021 Bundestag elections are the target population. They are stratified into four groups by onomastic classification: native Germans, Germans of Turkish Descent, Germans with a (Post-) Soviet background and Germans of any other immigrant origin. This note presents ten measures of optimising the recruitment of individuals from these four groups under the constraints of an all-encompassing high-incidence pandemic with distance measures and curfews in place, with closed shops and schools and reduced other care facilities. In addition, the report puts forward statistical analyses of some measures applied in an experimental design and estimates the overall and per-person-recruited costs. Overall, the pandemic forced us to make drastic changes to research design and field organisation and to invest much more time and money than planned. Especially overburdened postal deliveries and restrictive policies for public places made the endeavour most difficult. So far, the ongoing fieldwork has produced a response rate of 8.2 % (only individuals willing to participate in telephone interview) with 11.0 % as a likely expected outcome. One individual recruited to take part in the telephone panel survey costs an estimated 53-71 €.Early-bird incentives produced a positive response (meaning the willingness to partake in the survey) of 5.5 % compared to 4.0 % among those without early-bird incentives. The most effective measure to boost overall positive response among initial non-responders was in-person canvassing with unconditional incentive (21.3 %) instead of postal reminders (9.9 %). Canvassing a smaller group of people in person proved to be as costly as reminding a larger group of people in writing: we estimated costs of 60-61 € per additionally recruited survey participants through either channel.

Combining sources of information to increase survey response rates

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to show that mixed methods applied sequentially provide sufficient knowledge of topics under study. Design/methodology/approach This paper conducted an analysis of a real case using descriptive statistical and regression techniques. Findings The present study proposes the use of the so-called “sequential mixed-modes” in survey-based market research. This technique is based on the successive application of different information collection techniques (face-to-face, telephone and internet-based surveys); it offers four fundamental advantages: increased coverage rate; higher response rate; lower costs; and greater cooperation. Research limitations/implications In addition to the normal limitations associated with conclusions derived from case studies, the data collection was carried out in only one autonomous community (Spain) and focussed only on one theme. Practical implications Firstly, it was found that data collection through mixed sequential modes substantially increases response rates in online surveys. This is particularly important as, in recent years, data collection through the internet has become almost standard market research practice. Secondly, the sample that resulted from the joint use of the three data collection modes more accurately reflected the distinctive features of the universe under study. A third recommendation is that the use of internet-based self-administered surveys is especially promising with individuals with a higher level of education and among students. Originality/value The decrease in the response rate is one of the greatest challenges of survey-based market research, given its impact on sample representativeness. This paper addresses this problem and exposes the advantages of the sequential use of mixed modes in the collection of information.

Effectiveness of incentives and follow-up on increasing survey response rates and participation in field studies

BackgroundQuestionnaires are valuable data collection instruments in public health research, and can serve to pre-screen respondents for suitability in future studies. Survey non-response leads to reduced effective sample sizes and can decrease representativeness of the study population, so high response rates are needed to minimize the risk of bias. Here we present results on the success of different postal questionnaire strategies at effecting response, and the effectiveness of these strategies at recruiting participants for a field study on the effects of aircraft noise on sleep.MethodsIn total, we mailed 17 rounds of 240 questionnaires (total n = 4080) to randomly selected households around Atlanta International Airport. Different mailing rounds were varied in the length of the questionnaire (11, 26 or 55 questions), survey incentive (gift card or $2 cash), number of follow-up waves (0, 2 or 3), incentive for participating in a 5-night in-home sleep study ($100, $150 or $200), and address personalization.ResultsWe received completed questionnaires from 407 respondents (response rate 11.4%). Personalizing the address, enclosing a $2 cash incentive with the initial questionnaire mailing and repeated follow-up mailings were effective at increasing response rate. Despite the increased expense of these approaches in terms of each household mailed, the higher response rates meant that they were more cost-effective overall for obtaining an equivalent number of responses. Interest in participating in the field study decreased with age, but was unaffected by the mailing strategies or cash incentives for field study participation. The likelihood that a respondent would participate in the field study was unaffected by survey incentive, survey length, number of follow-up waves, field study incentive, age or sex.ConclusionsPre-issued cash incentives and sending follow-up waves could maximize the representativeness and numbers of people from which to recruit, and may be an effective strategy for improving recruitment into field studies.

When Less Is More in Boosting Survey Response Rates*

ObjectivesPrevious general population survey research has found that, relative to monetary incentives, altruistic appeals are ineffective in increasing survey response and that offering additional monetary incentives is always desirable. We consider an alternative population—a pro‐social population—and ask whether these same conclusions apply.MethodsTo evaluate the relative effectiveness of different incentive strategies, we randomly assign individuals to one of five conditions. We consider altruistic incentives (a narrative appeal or a charitable donation) and monetary incentives (three separate lotteries).ResultsAmong pro‐social individuals, “less is more”: altruistic appeals are just as effective, if not more effective, than costly monetary incentives. Moreover, the simplest lottery structure (fewer large‐payoff prizes) is the most cost effective of the lotteries.ConclusionsThe target population of interest matters when designing survey incentive strategies. Moreover, increasing the incentives budget is not always beneficial.

Evaluation of Three Postal Invitational Strategies to Increase Survey Response Rates in a Combat-Injured U.S. Military Population: Findings From the Wounded Warrior Recovery Project.

The survival rate of those injured in combat in overseas contingency operations is higher than in previous conflicts. There is a need to assess the long-term psychosocial and quality of life outcomes of those injured in combat, yet surveying this population presents inherent challenges. As part of a large-scale, longitudinal examination of patient-reported outcomes of service members injured on deployment, the present manuscript evaluated the effectiveness of three postal strategies on response rates: (1) mailing a study prenotification postcard, (2) mailing the survey invitation in a larger envelope, and (3) including a small cash preincentive ($2). Evaluation of these strategies yielded mixed results in this population. Neither the prenotification postcard nor inclusion of a $2 cash preincentive significantly increased response rates. However, use of a larger envelope to mail the survey invitation significantly increased the response rate by 53.1%. Researchers interested in collecting patient-reported outcomes among military populations, including those with combat-related injuries, may find that increasing the visibility of recruitment materials is more effective for improving response rates than attempting to cognitively prime or offer prospective participants preincentives.

Population-based assessment of health, healthcare utilisation, and specific needs of Syrian migrants in Germany: what is the best sampling method?

BackgroundStudies elucidating health-related information and special needs of Syrian migrants living in Germany are urgently required. However, data is scarce and finding appropriate sampling strategies to obtain representative results is challenging. In order to increase survey response in hard-to-reach populations, new methods were developed. One of them is respondent-driven sampling (RDS), a network sampling technique. We aimed to assess if respondent-driven sampling is a better approach to recruit Syrian migrants for health research than classical random sampling via the population registry.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in Munich between April and June 2017 inviting adults (18+ years) born in Syria to answer an online questionnaire asking for sociodemographic and health-related information. Recruitment of participants was done using a) random sampling via the population registry (PR) and b) RDS. The two study populations recruited via respondent-driven sampling and the population registry were compared to a sample drawn from the population registry with respect to gender and citizenship. In addition, the two study populations were compared to each other regarding self-reported health status, healthcare utilisation, lifestyle factors, social network size, and acculturation.ResultsOf 374 persons randomly drawn from the population registry, 49 individuals answered the questionnaire completely (response: 13.1%) while via RDS 195 participants were recruited by 16 seeds. More persons possessed German citizenship in the total sample (20.5, 95% CI: 16.6 to 24.8%) and in the PR study population (28.6, 95% CI: 16.6 to 43.3%) than in the study population (0.5, 95% CI: 0.1 to 1.5%). Participants recruited via the population registry were older, smoked less, reported more often to hold a university degree, and indicated a higher prevalence of chronic diseases, more frequent healthcare utilisation, higher scores of acculturation as well as a larger social network compared to the study population obtained via RDS.ConclusionsResponse was very low in the PR sample. The number of participants recruited via RDS was larger and led to a study population with substantially different characteristics. Our study thus indicates that RDS is a useful way to gain access to specific subgroups that are hard to reach via traditional random sampling.

A Survey of CIS Alumni to Assess Curriculum: Findings, Implications, and Future Directions

Aim/Purpose: At a public, higher education program in information technology, faculty are frequently asked to evaluate their curricula concerning: course content, the matriculation experience, where and in what capacity graduates are employed, and future academic initiatives developed to keep pace with changes in technology. The problem is determining the best process or mechanism to accumulate the responses. Background: The increased importance of STEM programs (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), reduced state support, and the need for greater accountability are driving academic technology programs to justify their existence. This paper explores one process for evaluating a Computer Information Systems (CIS) program in a state-supported university in the Midwest USA, through an email survey designed for graduates to capture their unique perspective as ‘customers’. Methodology: An email survey was developed, field tested, and sent to 550 email addresses obtained from university alumni affairs. Results were accumulated in a Qualtrics program and analyzed for research purposes. Contribution: The contribution of this research is outlining one program’s experience gleaning information on the employment of graduates, assessing the CIS and business core curriculum, and collecting suggestions for future academic courses and experiences through the utilization of an email survey. This is a valuable source of curriculum feedback that is often overlooked by programs that want to enhance their academic offerings. Findings: Among the findings are the following: the CIS program is and has been a viable and relevant information technology program that prepares graduates for meaningful careers in this field; the business core curriculum of accounting, finance and business communication is essential to the career success of CIS graduates; graduates of the CIS program are prepared to assume managerial roles throughout their careers; and Cooperative (Co-op) education is an extremely valuable experience and should be required in the CIS curriculum. Recommendations for Practitioners: Graduates of an academic program are an excellent source of evaluation material. A well-constructed email survey can gather relevant data on employment and employability, the curriculum, the college experience, and other academic program information. This type of survey is an easy, inexpensive, and expedient means for gathering this information. Recommendation for Researchers: The current study surveyed CIS graduates to assess the appropriateness of the curriculum. Future researchers should seek input from IT managers and HR managers who will be hiring CIS graduates in the near future to find their perspectives on the CIS curriculum. Future Research: Further research needs to investigate the link between alumni surveys and accreditation. There is also a need to improve and refine survey instruments, increase survey response rates, incorporate survey responses into program marketing initiatives, and define a process for incorporating these results into the development/creation of academic courses.

Population-based assessment of health, healthcare utilization, and specific needs of Syrian migrants living in Germany: what is the best sampling method?

Introduction The war in Syria belongs to the most dramatic emergencies in the last decades forcing a large number of people to seek refuge in other countries. Information on health-related aspects and special needs of Syrian migrants is urgently required, especially in countries hosting a considerable number of Syrians like Germany. However, data is scarce and as survey response using traditional sampling methods is usually low, one of the biggest challenges is finding appropriate sampling strategies to obtain representative results. In order to increase survey response in hard-to-reach populations, new methods were developed. One of them is respondent-driven sampling (RDS), a network sampling technique that starts with a small convenience sample of the target population (“seeds”) which is asked to complete the survey. All participants should then invite a limited number of their contacts (“peer-recruited participants”) who are also members of the target population to participate in the survey. In Germany, however, RDS has hardly been used for sampling migrant populations. Therefore, we aimed to assess if respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is a better approach to recruit Syrian migrants for health research than random sampling via the population registry. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in Munich, Germany between April and June 2017 inviting adults (18+ years) born in Syria to answer an online questionnaire asking for sociodemographic and health-related information. The participants were recruited using two sampling strategies: random sampling via the population registry (PR) and respondent-driven sampling (RDS). The two study populations were compared to the total sample drawn from the population registry with respect to gender and citizenship. In addition, the two study populations were compared to each other regarding self-reported health status, healthcare utilization, lifestyle factors, social network size, and acculturation. Results Of 374 persons randomly drawn from the population registry, 49 individuals answered the questionnaire completely (response: 13.1%) while via RDS 195 participants were recruited by 16 seeds. More persons possessed German citizenship in the total PR sample (20.5%, 95% CI: 16.5–24.5%) and in the PR study population (28.6%, 95% CI: 15.5–41.7%) than in the RDS study population (0.5%, 95% CI: −0.1 to 1.1%). Participants recruited via the population registry were older, smoked less, reported more often to hold a university degree, and indicated a higher prevalence of chronic diseases, more frequent healthcare utilization, higher scores of acculturation as well as a larger social network compared to the study population obtained via RDS. Conclusions As expected, response was very low among the random sample drawn from the population registry while a larger number of participants were recruited via RDS using only 16 seeds. In addition, the two recruitment strategies led to study populations with substantially different characteristics indicating selection bias in either method. These findings provide valuable information for upcoming population-based studies investigating health-related aspects in migrants indicating that mixed sampling approaches combining various recruitment strategies may enhance representativeness.

Using a Small Cash Incentive to Increase Survey Response.

Surveys tend to yield low response rates among human service professionals. This study examined whether a randomly-assigned prepaid $2 incentive increased response rates over time, and was cost-effective for increasing response count, among social workers and volunteer mediators. The incentive was enclosed with a mixed-mode survey of factors related to burnout and intention-to-remain. The incentive increased response rates over time. The effect of the incentive did not differ between mediators and social workers. The $2 incentive was not cost-effective for increasing response count. Implications are discussed for reducing nonresponse bias, decreasing time-to-response, and considering response rate versus response count.

Utility and Cost-effectiveness of Motivational Messaging to Increase Survey Response in Physicians

The present study examined whether, when, and how motivational messaging can boost the response rate of postal surveys for physicians based on Higgin’s regulatory focus theory, accounting for its cost-effectiveness. A three-arm, blinded, randomized controlled design was used. A total of 3,270 doctors were randomly selected from the registration list. Results showed that motivational messaging was effective in boosting response rate among younger physicians at relatively low cost when the messages were sent during the delivery of generic invitation letter and questionnaire. However, message framing had no significant impact on postal surveys’ response rate. Future postal surveys can consider using motivational messaging to maximize survey participation in physician population without incurring much extra cost.

Which Incentives to Increase Survey Response of Secondary School Pupils?

Increasing participation rates in pupil surveys has become an important challenge for empirical educational research. In this paper we investigate whether combining a monetary incentive with a personalised invitation to participate in a survey increases the response rate of secondary school pupils. It is found that pupils who receive a personalised invitation and a monetary incentive are not more likely to participate, nor to participate more quickly following the invitation, than those who received a nonpersonalised invitation and a monetary incentive.