Research Tips

Improving Mail Survey Response Rates

Do you want to increase the proportion of people who participate in your mail survey? If so, send a post card a few days before the survey is mailed, letting recipients know that a questionnaire will be arriving soon. The use of such post cards has been shown to improve mail survey response rates.

Also, another technique that has been shown to increase response rates is including the name of a person to contact if the recipient has questions along with the details needed to reach that person (phone number, e-mail, etc.). This is thought to increase confidence that the survey is legitimate and it provides a mechanism for recipients who want to verify that it is.