Research Tips

Time Estimates

Letting people know how long a survey is likely to take can help to increase response and completion rates. When providing a time estimate, it’s important that it not understate the amount of time the survey is likely to take most people as that may cause respondents to become frustrated and abandon their questionnaires or not give their full attention to questions toward the end. It may be hard to give a time estimate when a survey involves a complex skip pattern (because different people will be answering different numbers of questions), however one way around that is to give an upper limit and also explain that many people will be able to finish more quickly.