MNCLHD

MNCLHD

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Questionnaires - how to increase response rate

The Cochrane Library has published a systematic review this month called Methods to increase response to postal and electronic questionnaires. The Cochrane group, led by Philip Edwards, found over 400 trials relevant to the topic, which included over 100 different suggestions for increasing the response rate.

"Postal and electronic questionnaires are a relatively inexpensive way to collect information from people for research purposes. If people do not reply (so called 'non-responders'), the research results will tend to be less accurate." Monetary incentive almost doubled the response on average, and other ways to increase response included contacting people before they are sent the questionnaire, providing a stamped-return envelope and follow-up reminders.

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