A $2 Bill or Two $1 Bills: An Experiment that Challenges Standard Protocol. Issue 3 (August 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mills, Sarah
• Is Part Of: Field methods. Volume 31:Issue 3(2019)
• Page Start: 230
• Page End: 240
• Publication Date: 2019-08
• Subjects: Ethnology -- Methodology -- Periodicals; Anthropology -- Methodology -- Periodicals; Anthropologie -- Méthodologie -- Périodiques; 306.072
• DOI: 10.1177/1525822X19844307
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1525-822X

Abstract

The $2 bill is commonly used as a prepaid incentive in survey administration. Despite the widespread use of this incentive, there is no peer-reviewed research into how providing a single $2 bill rather than two $1 bills affects survey response rate. The results are from a mail survey of 2, 970 rural landowners in Michigan with identical survey protocols. Half were randomly assigned to receive a single $2 bill and the other half to receive two $1 bills accompanying the questionnaire. I found no statistical difference in the response rates of the two groups. While there may be logistical advantages to using a single $2 bill compared to two $1 bills, this research suggests that the $2 bill is not more effective at inducing survey participation.