Current Knowledge and Considerations Regarding Survey Refusals

The landscape of survey research has arguably changed more significantly in the past decade than at any other time in its relatively brief history. In that short time, landline telephone ownership has dropped from some 98 percent of all households to less than 60 percent; cell-phone interviewing went from a novelty to a mainstay; address-based designs quickly became an accepted method of sampling the general population; and surveys via Internet panels became ubiquitous in many sectors of social and market research, even as they continue to raise concerns given their lack of random selection.\nAmong these widespread changes, it is perhaps not surprising that the substantial increase in refusal rates has received comparatively little attention. As we will detail, it was not uncommon for a study conducted 20 years ago to have encountered one refusal for every one or two completed interviews, while today experiencing three or more refusals for every one completed interview is commonplace. This trend has led to several concerns that motivate this Task Force. As refusal rates have increased, refusal bias (as a component of nonresponse bias) is an increased threat to the validity of survey results. Of practical concern are the efficacy and cost implications of enhanced efforts to avert initial refusals and convert refusals that do occur. Finally, though no less significant, are the ethical concerns raised by the possibility that efforts to minimize refusals can be perceived as coercive or harassing potential respondents. Indeed, perhaps the most important goal of this document is to foster greater consideration by the reader of the rights of respondents in survey research

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• Enrollment and Compliance in an Ecological Momentary Assessment Study of Later Life

  Open Access•A R Roth, Jafnun Nudrat Jarin et al.•CAM•2026

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• Analysis of Hard Refusals to Continue Interviews in Telephone Surveys on Political Topics

  Open Access•V B Zvonovsky, Александр Владимирович Ходыкин et al.•Sociological Journal•2026

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• Analysis of refusals in questionnaire-based interviews in the local community. Motives, examples and ways of approaching the problem

  Open Access•Paweł Orzechowski•Bulletin of Sociological…•2026

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• Social Media Data for Firearms Research

  Open Access•Lisa Singh, Carole Roan Gresenz•The Annals of the American…•2022

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• Offering Web Response as a Refusal Conversion Technique in a Mixed-mode Survey

  Open Access•Hafsteinn Einarsson•CAM•2025

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