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American Public Health Association, American Journal of Public Health, 8(106), p. 1422-1426, 2016

DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2016.303198

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Population Survey Features and Response Rates: A Randomized Experiment

Journal article published in 2016 by Yimeng Guo, Jacek A. Kopec, Jolanda Cibere, Linda C. Li, Charles H. Goldsmith
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.

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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.