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

What will be an ideal response?

? Prior notification - In prior notification, potential respondents are sent a letter notifying them of the imminent mail, telephone, or personal survey. Prior notification increases response rates for samples of the general public because it reduces surprise and uncertainty and creates a more cooperative atmosphere.
? Motivating the respondents - Potential respondents can be motivated to participate in the survey by increasing their interest and involvement. Two of the ways this can be done are the foot-in-the-door and door-in-the-face strategies. Both strategies attempt to obtain participation through the use of sequential requests. As explained briefly in Chapter 6, in the foot-in-the-door strategy, the interviewer starts with a relatively small request, such as "Will you please take five minutes to answer five questions?," to which a large majority of people will comply. The small request is followed by a larger request, the critical request, that solicits participation in the survey or experiment. The rationale is that compliance with an initial request should increase the chances of compliance with the subsequent request. The door in the face is the reverse strategy. The initial request is relatively large and a majority of people refuse to comply. The large request is followed by a smaller request, the critical request, soliciting participation in the survey. The underlying reasoning is that the concession offered by the subsequent critical request should increase the chances of compliance. Foot in the door is more effective than door in the face.
? Incentives - Response rates can be increased by offering monetary as well as nonmonetary incentives to potential respondents. Monetary incentives can be prepaid or promised. The prepaid incentive is included with the survey or questionnaire. The promised incentive is sent to only those respondents who complete the survey. The most commonly used nonmonetary incentives are premiums and rewards, such as pens, pencils, books, and offers of survey results. Prepaid incentives have been shown to increase response rates to a greater extent than promised incentives. The amount of incentive can vary from 10 cents to $50 or more. The amount of incentive has a positive relationship with response rate, but the cost of large monetary incentives may outweigh the value of additional information obtained.
? Questionnaire design and administration. - A well-designed questionnaire can decrease the overall refusal rate as well as refusals to specific questions. Likewise, the skill used to administer the questionnaire in telephone and personal interviews can increase the response rate. Trained interviewers are skilled in refusal conversion or persuasion. They do not accept a "no" response without an additional plea. The additional plea might emphasize the brevity of the questionnaire or importance of the respondent's opinion. Skilled interviewers can decrease refusals by about 7 percent on average.
? Follow-up - Follow-up, or contacting the nonrespondents periodically after the initial contact, is particularly effective in decreasing refusals in mail surveys. The researcher might send a postcard or letter to remind nonrespondents to complete and return the questionnaire. Two or three mailings are needed, in addition to the original one. With proper follow-up, the response rate in mail surveys can be increased to 80 percent or more. Follow-ups can also be done by telephone, e-mail, or personal contacts.
? Other facilitators - Personalization, or sending letters addressed to specific individuals, is effective in increasing response rates.