For some reason, nearly everybody in research believes that holidays are a bad time to ask people if they will participate in research. I am reminded of this because at Versta Research we have some big studies that launched just before Thanksgiving, and we have some big ones coming up just before and during the…
Extremely careful researchers work hard to make sure their surveys reach broad and representative samples of their target populations. This usually involves multiple attempts to reach out via multiple phone calls, e-mails, or letters of request. Since statistical models of inference presume 100% response rates within random samples, the goal is always to get response…
Believe it or not, there are still plenty of phone surveys being done out there, especially for local needs assessments and evaluation surveys. Often these surveys are mandated by state or local governments to ensure that the right services are reaching people who need them. But phone surveys are extremely difficult to field anymore, as…
To get a more robust and representative sample, there are lots of things you can do that will encourage people to participate. You can send them reminders. You can call them. You can invest in snazzy designs to make your survey invitations ever more appealing. But here is one of the best investments you can…
I used to think that when potential research respondents said no they’re not interested in participating in our survey, they really meant it, end of story. Then I started working more on the field side where all kinds of different data collection was happening all the time. Seeing recruitment and data collection up close amazed…
If you deploy your own surveys trying to solicit feedback from your customers, you know how hard it is to get them to respond. There are many good reasons why customers ignore surveys nowadays. Here is one potential culprit: You may be asking them for information you already know. If you are, they know that…
Of all the many components that need to come together for great research, one piece not often discussed is the art and science of getting people into your study. Recruiting respondents is part targeting, part persuasion, and part persistence. For researchers, it is probably the closest thing we do to actual marketing. In the Versta…
I’ve been reading through a report from the AAPOR Task Force on The Future of U.S. General Population Telephone Survey Research, which I thought might be interesting and provocative, given how oddly reluctant the organization has been to embrace online methods. Only a few years ago AAPOR (the American Association of Public Opinion Research) finally…
This familiar sentence opens the lead article of Public Opinion Quarterly’s 2017 special issue on survey research: “Telephone surveys are dead, claim some survey researchers, and should be replaced with nonprobability samples from Internet panels.” Hmm, I’ve said something similar to that in the past, I thought to myself. I guess I’m not the only…
Which of these two questions do you find more annoying, question A or question B? A. Foodie TV has announced a competition to select the best destination for food. What can your city do to win? B. In terms of the restaurant choices, what is important for a city to offer? Now which of these…