Paper, E-mail, or Both? Effects of Contact Mode on Participation in a Web Survey of Establishments. (December 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sakshaug, Joseph W.; Vicari, Basha; Couper, Mick P.
• Is Part Of: Social science computer review. Volume 37:Number 6(2019)
• Page Start: 750
• Page End: 765
• Publication Date: 2019-12
• Subjects: data quality -- invitation design -- nonresponse bias -- response rate -- survey costs; Social sciences -- Data processing -- Periodicals; Computers -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Microcomputers -- Periodicals; Sciences sociales -- Informatique -- Périodiques; Micro-ordinateurs -- Périodiques; 300.285
• DOI: 10.1177/0894439318805160
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0894-4393

Abstract

Identifying strategies that maximize participation rates in population-based web surveys is of critical interest to survey researchers. While much of this interest has focused on surveys of persons and households, there is a growing interest in surveys of establishments. However, there is a lack of experimental evidence on strategies for optimizing participation rates in web surveys of establishments. To address this research gap, we conducted a contact mode experiment in which establishments selected to participate in a web survey were randomized to receive the survey invitation with login details and subsequent reminder using a fully crossed sequence of paper and e-mail contacts. We find that a paper invitation followed by a paper reminder achieves the highest response rate and smallest aggregate nonresponse bias across all-possible paper/e-mail contact sequences, but a close runner-up was the e-mail invitation and paper reminder sequence which achieved a similarly high response rate and low aggregate nonresponse bias at about half the per-respondent cost. Following up undeliverable e-mail invitations with supplementary paper contacts yielded further reductions in nonresponse bias and costs. Finally, for establishments without an available e-mail address, we show that enclosing an e-mail address request form with a prenotification letter is not effective from a response rate, nonresponse bias, and cost perspective.