Discuss four of the methods of reducing refusals to participate in a survey

69. Discuss four of the methods of reducing refusals to participate in a survey.Answer•Prior notification - In prior notification, potential respondents are sent a letternotifying them of the imminent mail, telephone, or personal survey. Priornotification increases response rates for samples of the general public because itreduces surprise and uncertainty and creates a more cooperative atmosphere.•Motivating the respondents - Potential respondents can be motivated to participatein the survey by increasing their interest and involvement. Two of the ways thiscan be done are the foot-in-the-door and door-in-the-face strategies. Bothstrategies attempt to obtain participation through the use of sequential requests.As explained briefly in Chapter 6, in the foot-in-the-door strategy, the interviewerstarts with a relatively small request, such as “Will you please take five minutes toanswer five questions?,” to which a large majority of people will comply. Thesmall request is followed by a larger request, the critical request, that solicitsparticipation in the survey or experiment. The rationale is that compliance with aninitial request should increase the chances of compliance with the subsequentrequest. The door in the face is the reverse strategy. The initial request isrelatively large and a majority of people refuse to comply. The large request isfollowed by a smaller request, the critical request, soliciting participation in thesurvey. The underlying reasoning is that the concession offered by the subsequentcritical request should increase the chances of compliance. Foot in the door ismore effective than door in the face.•Incentives -Response rates can be increased by offering monetary as well asnonmonetary incentives to potential respondents. Monetary incentives can beprepaid or promised. The prepaid incentive is included with the survey orquestionnaire. The promised incentive is sent to only those respondents whocomplete the survey. The most commonly used nonmonetary incentives arepremiums and rewards, such as pens, pencils, books, and offers of survey results.Prepaid incentives have been shown to increase response rates to a greater extentthan promised incentives. The amount of incentive can vary from 10 cents to $50or more. The amount of incentive has a positive relationship with response rate,but the cost of large monetary incentives may outweigh the value of additionalinformation obtained.•Questionnaire design and administration. - A well-designed questionnaire candecrease the overall refusal rate as well as refusals to specific questions. Likewise,the skill used to administer the questionnaire in telephone and personal interviewscan increase the response rate. Trained interviewers are skilled in refusalconversion or persuasion. They do not accept a “no” response without anadditional plea. The additional plea might emphasize the brevity of thequestionnaire or importance of the respondent’s opinion. Skilled interviewers can

To create a thoughtful customer survey, you need to decide what to measure, the sending method, and your survey audience.

Índice Show

What is nonresponse bias?
How to reduce nonresponse bias
1. Keep it short
2. Set expectations
3. Re-examine timing and distribution method
4. Provide an incentive
5. Gently remind
6. Close the loop

Even after careful consideration during the survey creation process, you notice your survey response rate is lower than expected. What could be causing this?

Enter – nonresponse bias.

Let’s break down the definition of nonresponse bias and how you can give your survey response rate a boost with 6 easy-to-implement tips.

What is nonresponse bias?

Nonresponse bias is the tendency for a participant to not respond to your survey because they are unable or do not want to complete it.

It’s important to understand that this is different from the term, response bias, which is defined as:

“…the societal or survey constructs that can impact the quality of a participant’s survey answers.”
The 7 types of sampling and response bias to avoid in customer surveys

Nonresponders may be less active with your company, less likely to recommend, or overall less loyal. When measuring customer loyalty and retention, using data with a large number of unanswered responses could lead to business decisions built on skewed data.

Therefore, finding techniques to reduce nonresponse bias off the bat can make a significant impact on long-term business growth.

How to reduce nonresponse bias

There are many ways to increase survey response rates while maintaining high-quality feedback. We’ve pulled the top six ways to instantly optimize your feedback program and reduce nonresponse bias effects over time.

1. Keep it short

Simplicity is key.

If you include too many questions in your survey, your customer may not finish their responses or want to begin the survey in the first place. Consider making your survey 3 – 5 minutes long with 10 questions at most.

2. Set expectations

Tell your customer what they should expect from your survey.

Either in an email beforehand or on the intro message of the survey, clarify the goal of the survey and how long it will take to complete. If the questions are sensitive in nature, reassure your customer that the survey will be anonymous and honest answers will have no repercussions.

3. Re-examine timing and distribution method

Take a step back and ask yourself – am I using the best survey distribution method for my audience? Am I sending the survey at the right time?

Try different survey distribution methods (Email, Web, or Link) and test which channels are most effective and relevant for your customer base. Be mindful of when you send the customer survey and double-check if your survey frequency is optimal for your industry in our Best Practices for Sending Guide.

4. Provide an incentive

Let your customer know how they will benefit from taking the survey.

It can be as simple as telling your customer that their feedback will improve product functionality and in turn, solve their pain points. Or, you may consider offering a discount or prize-entry with their survey response.

Check out how the Delighted + Friendbuy integration attracts referrals with rewards directly on your customized survey.

5. Gently remind

A busy customer may put your survey on their to-do list, but forget to complete it after a few days.

Giving your customer a gentle nudge in an email reminder will help put your survey back on the customer’s mind. Delighted’s Email platform will send a reminder to customers who have not opened their email survey exactly one week after the survey is delivered.

6. Close the loop

Customers don’t want to leave feedback if they feel that their voice won’t have an impact.

Provide clear communication in a Thank You or follow-up message to let the customer know that their response will be individually addressed and systematically applied to better improve your product or service.

For more close-the-loop inspiration, take a look at our Taking Action page to learn how you can improve the customer experience with easy-to-use feedback tools.

Ready to give your survey response rate a lift? Delighted has the resources you need to optimize your feedback and help reduce nonresponse bias for free. Sign up for a trial of our self-serve experience management software today and scale your CX program with ease.

Alex Bischoff is a Content Strategist and has worked in experience management for 5+ years. Alex has a passion for discovering and delivering content that will entertain, teach, and inspire teams to create exceptional experiences. When she isn't hiking around the Seattle, WA area, you can find her trying out the latest restaurants or binging true crime on Netflix. More