Response rates are often identified as one of the most critical issues in readership research. The greatest fear is that those who do not respond to our questionnaires may be quite different from those who take the time to answer the surveys – whether by telephone, door-to-door, mail, or through other means. Ignoring response rates, and the potential bias by not being able to include the views of those who do not wish to take part in a particular survey, could lead to serious errors in the conclusions reached about the readership of selected publications.
Unfortunately the issue is compounded by the fact that response rates are declining. There is evidence presented by both CASRO in the US and CAMRO and PMRS in Canada that response rates have been steadily declining over the past 10 to 15 years. When looking at continuous tracking studies, PMRS noted in 1997 that response rates (defined as co-operative contacts as a proportion of total eligible numbers) had declined by approximately 14% over a period of four years. Over the same time period, refusal rates (defined as refusals as a proportion of total asked) increased steadily by 7%. In the United States, Walker reported to CMOR that refusal rates had increased from 53% in 1992 to 58% in 1995 (a change of 5%).
Symposium: 1999: Florence, Session 4 - The Response Rate Challenge
Authors: Thompson, Ivor
Topics: Response Rates