Short- and long-term effects of reminders on panellists’ survey participation in a probability-based panel study with a sequential mixed-mode design

Abstract

In recent panel studies, besides other methods such as sequential mixed-mode design, push-to-web method, and prepaid monetary incentives, follow-up contacts such as personalised electronic mails (e-mails) or short message service are often used to motivate nonrespondents to complete the questionnaire, increase the response rate within a limited fieldwork period, and minimise panel attrition. Since it is still unclear when and how often non-complying panellists should be reminded to take part in a survey, this contribution analyses the short- and long-term effects of digital reminders across the fieldwork period. For this purpose, longitudinal data and statistical procedures of event history analysis are applied to reveal the effects of reminders on the likelihood, timing, and social structure of Swiss juveniles’ survey participation. On the one hand, there are short-term and long-term effects of multiple early reminders on the response of panellists receiving reminders. On the other hand, there are no cumulative effects across the fieldwork period or overlapping effects of reminders across the mixed survey modes. Considering the social structure of nonrespondents who receive reminders, it appears plausible that there may be a selective response in terms of the panellists’ social origin, educational level, and language proficiency.

A call to action in review of the Australian Dietary Guidelines: Impacts of conflicting nutrition information: A mixed methods study

“…Interpretation of the findings for this study should be considered within the sample's characteristics (primarily highly educated, high‐income females). This gender disparity is often observed in research participation potentially due to ease of contacting and women's greater tendency towards helping; however, for this study, women's greater interest in health and nutrition topics may have also impacted the sample's gender distribution 4,44 . Despite these privileged characteristics, the sample was still impacted by nutrition confusion and backlash.…”

Dynamic Analysis of the Timing of Survey Participation: An Application of Event History Analysis of the Stochastic Process of Response in a Probability-Based Multi-Wave Panel With Computer-Assisted Interview Modes

“…Fourth, and finally, it is revealed that women are more likely to respond immediately after survey launch or in the first stages of the fieldwork period, than the male panelists. This persistent gender effect should be subjected to detailed analysis in the future (Becker, 2021).…”

Resident Perspectives on a Pre-booking Diversion Program

“…More importantly, despite ISR's best attempts to achieve representativeness, our sample appears to be disproportionately female. This may be because women are simply more likely to participate in surveys (Becker, 2022). It may also be due in part to the demographic composition of the communities we surveyed, in which there is a notable and racialized gender imbalance created by incarceration and early death, likely exacerbated by high rates of intergenerational poverty in the neighborhoods surveyed (Lubrano, 2019).…”