The Effect of Communication Emails on Web Survey Response Rate, Representativeness, and Response Bias
Results from a Factorial Randomized Control Trial in a College Student Population
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7154402 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Paula Clasing-Manquian (0000-0003-2367-2486, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, corresponding author), John González (0000-0001-6257-6310, University of Michigan) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 291-304 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | CAM (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1087-8513 • E-ISSN: 1552-3969 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1525822x241286341 |
| OpenAlex | W4403140478 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 23 |
Web surveys are popular in social sciences for reaching a large audience at a low cost and in a short period. However, response rates and nonresponse bias are still issues of concern. Using a factorial randomized control trial design, this study explores whether different communication emails affect response rates, representativeness, and response bias in a web survey of doctoral students enrolled in a U.S. university. A total of 5,539 doctoral students were stratified and randomly assigned to one of six groups. Results showed that none of the interventions increased the overall response rate. Moreover, interventions affect the representativeness of the sample and are associated with response bias
Environmental health · Non-response bias · Population · Psychological intervention · Representativeness heuristic · Response bias · Statistics · Applied Psychology · Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods · Mathematics · Medicine · Privacy, Security, and Data Protection · Psychology · Social Psychology · Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement
Logistic or linear? Estimating causal effects of experimental treatments on binary outcomes using regression analysis.
From Intentions to Actions
The theory of planned behavior
How Important are High Response Rates for College Surveys
Web Versus Other Survey Modes
A Meta-Analysis of Response Rates in Web- or Internet-Based Surveys
Attitudes and the Attitude-Behavior Relation
Improving web survey efficiency
Impact of Web Survey Invitation Design on Survey Participation, Respondents, and Survey Responses
E-mail Subject Lines and Their Effect on Web Survey Viewing and Response
An Examination of the Role of Funny Reminders and Embedded Survey Items on Response Rate
How You Ask Counts
Improving Survey Response Rates in Online Panels
Understanding the Impact of Lottery Incentives on Web Survey Participation and Response Quality
A Comparison of Web and Mail Survey Response Rates
The Impact of Nonresponse Rates on Nonresponse Bias
Leverage-Saliency Theory of Survey Participation
Effects of Personal Salutations in E-mail Invitations to Participate in a Web Survey
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |