Table 6.
Survey sampling cost effectiveness
| Sampling protocol | Surveys sent to receive 1 response (n)a | Surveys sent to recruit 1 participant (n)a,d | Costs ($) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Follow-up waves (n) | Survey length | Survey incentive | Initial wave | Follow-up wave 1 | Follow-up wave 2 | Follow-up wave 3 | Total per mailed individual | Per response receiveda | Total to receive 1 responseb | Recruit 1 participantb,d | ||
| 3 | Short | $2 | 4.61 | 50.7 | 3.01 | 0.70 | 1.01 | 1.01 | 5.74 | 26.44 | 28.89 | 317.51 |
| 3 | Medium | $2 | 4.88 | 53.6 | 3.09 | 0.70 | 1.09 | 1.09 | 5.96 | 29.09 | 31.84 | 349.88 |
| 0 | Long | $2 | 12.20 | 134.1 | 3.09 | – | – | – | 3.09 | 37.65 | 39.54 | 434.48 |
| 3 | Long | $2 | 6.13 | 67.4 | 3.09 | 0.70 | 1.09 | 1.09 | 5.96 | 36.59 | 39.99 | 439.50 |
| 2 | Long | $2 | 8.33 | 91.5 | 3.09 | 0.70 | 1.09 | – | 4.88 | 40.64 | 44.01 | 483.66 |
| 0 | Long | Gift card | 32.26 | 354.5 | 1.09 | – | – | – | 1.09 | 40.83c | 46.81c | 503.38 |
Data ordered from most to least cost effective method to receive a single completed survey
aAssumes 100% delivery rate
bAssumes 87.6% delivery rate and, if applicable, $0.248 recouped from non-deliverable initial survey waves
cIncludes a mean gift card cost of $5.67
dAssumes 9.1% participation rate from completed surveys across all survey mailing rounds, independent of mailing protocol. Does not include cost for actual participation in the field study ($150 or $200)