The Effects of Incentives, Interview Length, and Interviewer Characteristics on Response Rates in a CATI-Study

Through an experimental study, this research note analyses the effect of incentives, announced interview length, and interviewer characteristics on response rates in a CATI-study. Survey response rates are declining throughout the developed world (De Leeuw & De Heer, 2002). A public weary of having their dinner interrupted by an increasing number of polling agencies and media-conducted surveys (not to mention other types of commercial calls) has increased refusal rates. This development is partly aggravated by the fact that more and more people increasingly rely on cell phones and unlisted numbers, which are not included in survey samples unless Random Digit Dialing (RDD) is used. Furthermore, together with the increasing number of polls conducted in recent years, there has been an increasingly louder public debate calling for a ban on polls in the weeks prior to elections (e.g. Schultz-Jørgensen, 2005; Ullerup, 2005). This public critique of commercial polling might also have...