The presentation of survey requests represents an easily modifiable feature of survey communications that can in some contexts affect response propensities. Here, we examine how two features: the framing of the participation request (informed by prospect theory) and the inclusion of targeted appeals based on demographic background (age or…

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,…

Questionnaire designers are encouraged to write questions as complete sentences. In self-administered surveys, incomplete question stems may reduce visual clutter but may also increase burden when respondents need to scan the response options to fully complete the question. We experimentally examine the effects of three categories of incomplete…

Mailing campaigns are a way to keep longitudinal survey respondents engaged. While mailings usually include a survey answer request, sometimes respondents are contacted between-waves to update contact information or simply to keep respondent contact. Research on the actual impact of these between-wave contacts on response rates is scarce. This…

Previous research extensively studied reasons for and ways to avoid low response rates, but it largely ignored the primary research issue of the degree to which response rates matter, which we address. Methodological survey research on response rates has been concerned with how to increase responsiveness and with the effects of response rates on…

In web questionnaires which are created in paging design where each question is on a separate page, a progress indicator is an element that should inform the respondent about their current position within the questionnaire. Linear progress indicators are commonly used, and sometimes fast-to-slow progress indicators are used for research purposes.…

In the existing multidimensional extensions of the log-normal response time (LNRT) model, the log response times are decomposed into a linear combination of several latent traits. These models are fully compensatory as low levels on traits can be counterbalanced by high levels on other traits. We propose an alternative multidimensional extension…

Previous survey research has found that prompt interventions for speeding and straightlining were effective at reducing these undesirable response behaviors in web surveys. However, the effects of prompt interventions on data quality measures are mixed, and it is unclear how prompt interventions affect key survey estimates. We conducted an…

Researchers have become increasingly interested in response times to survey items as a measure of cognitive effort. We used machine learning to develop a prediction model of response times based on 41 attributes of survey items (e.g., question length, response format, linguistic features) collected in a large, general population sample. The…

We tested a novel extension to mailed invitations to a web-push survey, using a postcard invitation to deliver a scratch-off giftcode incentive similar to an instant-win lottery ticket. Scratch-off postcards were included as one of five conditions in randomized survey experiment varying two mailing types (letter and postcard) and three incentive…

In times of decreasing response rates and survey participation, many 'best-practices' have been developed for increasing survey recruitment. However, most of these have never been adequately and experimentally scrutinized for their efficacy. Therefore, in this research note, we draw on probability-based data of an online panel and experimentally…

Adaptive survey design refers to using targeted procedures to recruit different sampled cases. This technique strives to reduce bias and variance of survey estimates by trying to recruit a larger and more balanced set of respondents. However, it is not well understood how adaptive design can improve data and survey estimates beyond the…

Expected yield rates are essential to a survey's data collection plan, as they inform requisite sample sizes to meet the survey's objectives. Given an overall expected yield rate for a self-administered mail survey, this short take describes a simple method for using the Census Planning Database to assign differential yield rates to lower-level…

Even small monetary incentives, e.g., a one-dollar bill in a postal invitation letter, can increase the response rate in a web survey. However, in the euro currency area, the smallest amount of monetary incentive for a postal invitation is a five-euro bill, which is costly. As such, we conducted a random experiment with prepaid stamp and postcard…

When conducting a postal survey, a traditional recommendation is to use paper postage stamps instead of an automated postage system, to make sure that invitations have a more personal and attractive appearance. In this research note, we investigate whether this traditional recommendation is still valid. In the autumn of 2020, a postal survey was…