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Effects of Incentives in Surveys

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Handbook of Survey Methodology for the Social Sciences

Abstract

Nonresponse is an important indicator of TSE, and incentives are widely used to increase response rates. This chapter discusses the theories behind incentive effects, discusses the possible forms of incentives and related effects, estimates the optimal amount of incentives, handles different modes of data collection, the relation between incentives and data quality, and ends with best practices and a view toward the future in order to help survey researchers in identifying if, how and how much incentives should be used in their surveys.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Saunders et al. (2006) base their analysis on mail surveys, but results can easily be extended to other modes of administration, with Web-based surveys having lower variable costs and telephone and face-to-face surveys having higher variable costs than mail surveys.

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Further Readings

  • Church, A. H. (1993). Estimating the Effect of Incentives on Mail Survey Response Rates: A Meta-Analysis. Public Opinion Quarterly, 57, 62–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dillman, D. A. (1978). Mail and Telephone Surveys: The Total Design Method. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Göritz, A. S. (2006). Incentives in Web Surveys: Methodological Issues and a Review. International Journal of Internet Science, 1, 58–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Göritz, A. S. & Neumann, B.P. (2011). “The Longitudinal Effects of Incentives on Response Quantity in Online Panels”, retrieved from www.goeritz.net.

    Google Scholar 

  • Groves, R. M., Cialdini, R. B., & Couper, M. P. (1992). Understanding the Decision to Participate in a Survey. Public Opinion Quarterly, 56, 475–495.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groves, R. M., Singer, E., & Corning A. D. (2000). ”A Leverage-Saliency Theory of Survey Participation: Description and Illustration”, Public Opinion Quarterly, 64, 299–308.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryu, E., Couper, M. P., & Marans, R. W. (2005). Survey Incentives: Cash vs. In-Kind; Face-to-Face vs. Mail; Response Rate vs. Nonresponse Error. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 18, 89–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saunders, J., Jobber, D., & Mitchell, V. (2006). The Optimum Prepaid Monetary Incentives for Mail Surveys. The Journal of the Operational Research Society, 57, 1224–1230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singer, E., Van Hoewyk, J., Gebler, N., Raghunathan, T., & McGonagle, K. (1999). The Effect of Incentives in Interviewer-Mediated Surveys. Journal of Official Statistics, 15, 217–230.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singer, E., Groves, R. M., & Corning, A. D. (1999). Differential Incentives: Beliefs about Practices, Perceptions of Equity, and Effects on Survey Participation. Public Opinion Quarterly, 63, 251–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leisure Studies, Tilburg University, Warandelaan 2, P.O.Box 90153, 5000LE, Tilburg, The Netherlands

    Vera Toepoel

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  1. Vera Toepoel
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Correspondence to Vera Toepoel .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, Tenth Ave. 899, New York, 10019, New York, USA

    Lior Gideon

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Toepoel, V. (2012). Effects of Incentives in Surveys. In: Gideon, L. (eds) Handbook of Survey Methodology for the Social Sciences. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3876-2_13

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