© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The World Association for Public Opinion Research. All rights reserved.
Impact of Prepaid Incentives in Face-to-Face Surveys: A Large-Scale Experiment with Postage Stamps
Address correspondence to Willem Wetzels, Statistics Netherlands, Division of Social and Spatial Statistics, P.O. Box 4481, 6401CZ Heerlen, The Netherlands, e-mail: wwts@cbs.nl
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Nonresponse is a general problem in survey research. Although response rates and the nonresponse trends differ between countries, the general trend is that response rates have been declining over the years (De Leeuw & De Heer, 2002). A high nonresponse rate is a problem as it reduces the number of respondents and consequently the precision of estimates. In addition, nonresponse can be selective. This occurs when nonrespondents differ systematically from respondents as to the survey objectives. As a result, the survey estimates of the key indicators may be biased. Nonresponse is not only a statistical problem, but it is also a financial problem as declining response rates cause increasing survey costs.
In the nineties, a response rate of 55 percent in face-to-face surveys conducted by Statistics Netherlands was not unusual (De Heer, 1999). Due to a substantial reorganization of the fieldwork department and the raise of the minimum
 |
PAST RESEARCH ON THE USE OF INCENTIVES |
|---|
|
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN |
|---|
|
RESULTS |
|---|
Response Rates
Selectivity in Response
Response Bias
|
CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION |
|---|
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?