Survey Response Rates

H Caroline Jarrett για σε ένα άρθρο με θέμα "Survey Response Rates":

"In the 1950s, a well-designed survey could often achieve over 90% response rates. Since then, response rates have consistently declined. But I was still a bit shocked the other day when a post on a usability discussion group quoted a 'typical response rate of 2%' as if that were something we all knew as a fact.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO IMPROVE YOUR RESPONSE RATE?

1. Ask fewer people. Choose a small sample, make sure that those people know that they have been specially selected, and spend a bit of time and effort on following up with each of them. Feeling special makes people more likely to respond.

2. Ditch the prize draw and use the money for an incentive that they get before filling in the questionnaire. A dollar bill sent with a mail survey gets a better response rate than ten dollars guaranteed on returning the survey. Prize draws have little or no affect on response rates.

3. Make the questionnaire SHORT (yup, I’m yelling 'short' at you). Longer = more offputting.

4. Make the questionnaire interesting. You may even have to resort to a little humour (but be careful when you test it).

5. Test, test and test again. That's how you’ll find out whether it's short enough and interesting enough to get a response.

6. Read a good book on the topic. I recommend Don Dillman (2000) 'Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method'. Then do what he says."