Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Response Rates in Organizational Science, 1995–2008: A Meta-analytic Review and Guidelines for Survey Researchers

  • Published:
Journal of Business and Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

This study expands upon existing knowledge of response rates by conducting a large-scale quantitative review of published response rates. This allowed a fine-grained comparison of response rates across respondent groups. Other unique features of this study are the analysis of response enhancing techniques across respondent groups and response rate trends over time. In order to aid researchers in designing surveys, we provide expected response rate percentiles for different survey modalities.

Design

We analyzed 2,037 surveys, covering 1,251,651 individual respondents, published in 12 journals in I/O Psychology, Management, and Marketing during the period 1995–2008. Expected response rate levels were summarized for different types of respondents and use of response enhancing techniques was coded for each study.

Findings

First, differences in mean response rate were found across respondent types with the lowest response rates reported for executive respondents and the highest for non-working respondents and non-managerial employees. Second, moderator analyses suggested that the effectiveness of response enhancing techniques was dependent on type of respondents. Evidence for differential prediction across respondent type was found for incentives, salience, identification numbers, sponsorship, and administration mode. When controlling for increased use of response enhancing techniques, a small decline in response rates over time was found.

Implications

Our findings suggest that existing guidelines for designing effective survey research may not always offer the most accurate information available. Survey researchers should be aware that they may obtain lower/higher response rates depending on the respondent type surveyed and that some response enhancing techniques may be less/more effective in specific samples.

Originality/value

This study, analyzing the largest set of published response rates to date, offers the first evidence for different response rates and differential functioning of response enhancing techniques across respondent types.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, and Journal of Managerial Psychology have been included in ISI Web of Science in 2005 and 2008, respectively.

References

  • Aguinis, H. (2004). Regression analysis for categorical moderators. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, C., Schewe, C. D., & Wijk, G. (1980). More on self-perception theory’s foot technique in the pre call/mail survey setting. Journal of Marketing Research, 17, 498–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anseel, F., Duyck, W., De Baene, W., & Brysbaert, M. (2004). Journal impact factors and self-citations: Implications for psychology journals. American Psychologist, 59, 49–51.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Applebaum, H. (1986). The anthropology of work in industrial society. Anthropology of Work Review, 7, 25–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baruch, Y. (1999). Response rate in academic studies: A comparative analysis. Human Relations, 52, 421–438.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baruch, Y., & Holtom, B. C. (2008). Survey response rate levels and trends in organizational research. Human Relations, 61, 1139–1160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonaccorsi, A., & Piccaluga, A. (1994). A theoretical framework for the evaluation of university–industry relationships. R & D Management, 24, 229–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruvold, N. T., Comer, J. M., & Rospert, A. M. (1990). Interactive effects of major response facilitators. Decision Sciences, 21, 551–562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Church, A. H. (1993). Estimating the effect of incentives on mail survey response rates: A meta-analysis. Public Opinion Quarterly, 57, 62–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. S. (2004). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences (3rd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Converse, P. R., Wolfe, E. W., Huang, X. T., & Oswald, F. L. (2008). Response rates for mixed-mode surveys using mail and e-mail/Web. American Journal of Evaluation, 29, 99–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Creed, P. A., & Klisch, J. (2005). Future outlook and financial strain: Testing the personal agency and latent deprivation models of unemployment and well-being. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 10, 251–260.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cycyota, C. S., & Harrison, D. A. (2002). Enhancing survey response rates at the executive level: Are employee- or consumer-level techniques effective? Journal of Management, 28, 151–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cycyota, C. S., & Harrison, D. A. (2006). What (not) to expect when surveying executives: A meta-analysis of top manager response rates and techniques over time. Organizational Research Methods, 9, 133–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deci, E. L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R. M. (1999). A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 627–668.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dillman, D. A. (1978). Mail and telephone surveys. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dillman, D. A. (2000). Mail and Internet surveys: The tailored design method. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dillman, D. A. (2002). Navigating the rapids of change: Some observations on survey methodology in the early twenty-first century. Public Opinion Quarterly, 66, 473–494.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, P., Roberts, I., Clarke, M., DiGuiseppi, C., Pratap, C., Wentz, R., et al. (2002). Increasing response rates to postal questionnaires: Systematic review. British Medical Journal, 324, 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, R. J., Crask, M. R., & Kim, J. (1988). Mail survey response rate: A meta-analysis of selected techniques for inducing response. Public Opinion Quarterly, 52, 467–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gendall, P., Hoek, J., & Brennan, M. (1998). The tea bag experiment: More evidence on incentives in mail surveys. Journal of the Market Research Society, 40, 347–351.

    Google Scholar 

  • Groves, R. M., Presser, S., & Dipko, S. (2004). The role of topic interest in survey participation decisions. Public Opinion Quarterly, 68, 2–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groves, R. M., Singer, E., & Corning, A. (2000). Leverage-salience theory of survey participation: Description and an illustration. Public Opinion Quarterly, 64, 299–308.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heberlein, T. A., & Baumgartner, R. (1978). Factors affecting response rates to mailed questionnaires: A quantitative analysis of the published literature. American Sociological Review, 43, 447–462.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, K. D., & Gullickson, A. R. (1993). Response rates in survey research: A meta-analysis of the effects of monetary gratuities. Journal of Experimental Education, 61, 52–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKee, D. O. (1992). The effect of using a questionnaire identification code and message about non-response follow-up plans on mail survey response characteristics. Journal of the Marker Research Society, 34, 179–191.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paxson, M. C. (1995). Increasing survey response rates: Practical instructions from the total design method. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 36, 66–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogelberg, S. G., Conway, J. M., Sederburg, M. E., Spitzmuller, C., Aziz, S., & Knight, W. E. (2003). Profiling active and passive nonrespondents to an organizational survey. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 1104–1114.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rogelberg, S. G., & Stanton, J. M. (2007). Understanding and dealing with organizational survey nonresponse: Introduction. Organizational Research Methods, 10, 195–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roth, P. L., & BeVier, C. A. (1998). Response rates in HRM/OB survey research: Norms and correlates, 1990–1994. Journal of Management, 24, 97–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shih, T. H., & Fan, X. T. (2008). Comparing response rates from Web and mail surveys: A meta-analysis. Field Methods, 20, 249–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sills, S. J., & Song, C. Y. (2002). Innovations in survey research: An application of Web-based surveys. Social Science Computer Review, 20, 22–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spitzmuller, C., Glenn, D. M., Barr, C. D., Rogelberg, S. G., & Daniel, P. (2006). “If you treat me right, I reciprocate”: Examining the role of exchange in organizational survey–response. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27, 19–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trussel, N., & Lavrakas, P. J. (2004). The influence of incremental increases in token cash incentives on mail survey response—Is there an optimal amount? Public Opinion Public Opinion Quarterly, 68, 349–367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van den Berg, G. J., Lindeboom, M., & Dolton, P. J. (2006). Survey non-response and the duration of unemployment. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, 169, 585–604.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yammarino, F. J., Skinner, S. J., & Childers, T. L. (1991). Understanding mail survey response behavior. Public Opinion Quarterly, 55, 613–629.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu, J., & Cooper, H. (1983). A quantitative review of research design effects on response rates to questionnaires. Journal of Marketing Research, 20, 36–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Katrien Vermeulen, Liesbet De Koster, Valerie Boulangier, Claire Hemelaer, Sophie Pczycki, Myrjam Van de Vijver, and Bernd Carette for their help in coding the studies.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Personnel Management and Work and Organizational Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Frederik Anseel, Filip Lievens & Eveline Schollaert

  2. Department of Social Psychology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain

    Beata Choragwicka

Authors
  1. Frederik Anseel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Filip Lievens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Eveline Schollaert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Beata Choragwicka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Frederik Anseel.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Anseel, F., Lievens, F., Schollaert, E. et al. Response Rates in Organizational Science, 1995–2008: A Meta-analytic Review and Guidelines for Survey Researchers. J Bus Psychol 25, 335–349 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-010-9157-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-010-9157-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation