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Web Survey Bibliography

Title Differential Incentives in a Dual Mode Survey of Health Care Providers
Year 2013
Access date 31.05.2013
Abstract

Health care providers respond to surveys at very low rates. Mail surveys are commonly used when surveying physicians and similar health care professionals. Increasingly, surveys are being administration by Web or by mail with a Web option. The Web offers an opportunity for data to be collected more efficiently – data entry costs are reduced, data quality is improved, and respondent burden is reduced. Prior research on the dual mode mail/Web approach has focused on responses rates, with mixed results (Schneider et al. 2005; Friese et al. 2010; McFarlane et al., 2009). Little research exists on the role incentives play in mode choice, especially when the incentive favors a certain mode. The use of differential incentives in dualmode mail/Web surveys to encourage Web response in particular has not been examined in the physician population, although it has been studied in surveys of recent college graduates (Mooney et al., 20012). Mathematica Policy Research conducted a dual-mode mail/Web survey of a nationally representative sample of 5,000 health care workers providing care to patients with HIV/AIDS. To control survey costs while at the same time encouraging response, we offered a $20 pre-paid incentive and a differential post-pay incentive that favored Web survey completion. Those responding via mail received an additional $20 while those responding via Web received an additional $40. Since we did not have emails for sample members, precluding an email invitation, we hypothesized that 60 to 70 percent of the responding clinicians would complete the survey by mail. However, only one third did—two-thirds responded by Web. In this paper, we will: 1) explain the rationale for using a differential incentive as a means to encourage mode selection, 2) describe differences between Web and mail survey responders, and 3) provide suggestions for improving dual-mode surveys and incentive structures in the future.

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Conference Homepage (abstract)

Year of publication2013
Bibliographic typeConferences, workshops, tutorials, presentations
Print

Web survey bibliography - The American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) 68th Annual Conference, 2013 (88)

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