Does Giving People Their Preferred Survey Mode Actually Increase Survey Participation Rates? An Experimental Examination

2012/08/02 by Kristen Olson, K. Olson, J. D. Smyth +3 · 108 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Mathematics · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Applied psychology #Business #Computer science #Economic and Environmental Valuation #Marketing #Mathematics #Mixed mode #Mode (computer interface) #Phone #Political science #Preference #Psychology #Respondent #Social psychology #Statistics #Survey Methodology and Nonresponse #Survey Sampling and Estimation Techniques #Survey data collection #Survey methodology #Survey research #Telephone survey #Web survey

paper · doi:10.1093/poq/nfs024

published in Public Opinion Quarterly 76(4), 611-635 (Oxford University Press)

openalex publication_date 2012/08/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

Survey research has long grappled with the concept of survey mode preference: the idea that a respondent may prefer to participate in one survey mode over another. This article experimentally examines the effect of mode preference on response, contact, and cooperation rates; mode choice; and data collection efficiency. Respondents to a 2008 telephone survey (n = 1,811; AAPOR RR3 = 38 percent) were asked their mode preference for future survey participation. These respondents were subsequently followed up in 2009 with two independent survey requests. The first follow-up survey request was another telephone survey (n = 548; AAPOR RR2 = 55.5 percent). In the second follow-up survey (n = 565; AAPOR RR2 = 46.0 percent), respondents were randomly assigned to one of four mode treatments: Web only, mail only, Web followed by mail, and mail followed by Web. We find that mode preference predicts participation in Web and phone modes, cooperation in phone mode (where contact and cooperation can be disentangled), and the selection of a mode when given the option of two modes. We find weak and mixed evidence about the relationship between mode preference and reduction of field effort. We discuss the important implications these findings have for mixed mode surveys.

Citations

• The Effects of Response Rate Changes on the Index of Consumer Sentiment
• Nonresponse Rates and Nonresponse Bias in Household Surveys
• A Comparison of Address-Based Sampling (ABS) Versus Random-Digit Dialing (RDD) for General Population Surveys

Cited by

• How Do Internet-Related Characteristics Affect Whether Members of a German Mixed-Mode Panel Switch from the Mail to the Web Mode?
• New Developments in Survey Data Collection
• The Influence of a Person’s Digital Affinity on Unit Nonresponse and Attrition in an Online Panel
• Should We Offer Web, Paper, or Both? A Comparison of Single- and Mixed-Response Mode Treatments in a Mail Survey
• When to Text? How the Timing of Text Message Contacts in Mixed-Mode Surveys Impacts Response
• Improving the Efficiency of Outbound CATI As a Nonresponse Follow-Up Mode in Address-Based Samples: A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of a Dynamic Adaptive Design
• Who prefers smartphone surveys? Revisiting predictors of survey mode preference
• Recruiting a Probability-Based Online Panel via Postal Mail: Experimental Evidence
• How computer literacy and socioeconomic status affect attitudes toward a Web-based cohort: results from the NutriNet-Santé study. [europepmc]
• Improving participation rates by providing choice of participation mode: two randomized controlled trials. [europepmc]
• Patient responses to research recruitment and follow-up surveys: findings from a diverse multicultural health care setting in Qatar. [europepmc]
• Assessing the Effects of Participant Preference and Demographics in the Usage of Web-based Survey Questionnaires by Women Attending Screening Mammography in British Columbia. [europepmc]
• A Comparison of Web and Telephone Responses From a National HIV and AIDS Survey. [europepmc]
• Mixing modes in a population-based interview survey: comparison of a sequential and a concurrent mixed-mode design for public health research. [europepmc]
• The Acceptability and Efficacy of Electronic Data Collection in a Hospital Neurodevelopmental Clinic: Pilot Questionnaire Study. [europepmc]
• Survey mode and nonresponse bias: A meta-analysis based on the data from the international social survey programme waves 1996-2018 and the European social survey rounds 1 to 9. [europepmc]
• Patients and Communities Shape Regional Health Research Priorities: A Participatory Study from South Tyrol, Italy. [europepmc]

Related

• Who prefers smartphone surveys? Revisiting predictors of survey mode preference
• Effects of Mode and Transitioning to a Mixed-Mode (Web/Phone) Design on Categorical Survey Estimates: Do Question Characteristics Matter?
• Switching a Face-to-Face Panel to Self-Administered Survey Modes: Experimental Evidence on Effects of Mode Assignment on Response and Selectivity
• Effects of Replacing Telephone with Web, Mail, and Mixed-Mode Data Collection in an Establishment Follow-Up Survey
• The Stability of Mode Preferences: Implications for Tailoring in Longitudinal Surveys