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Survey Response Rate

  • 30-08-2010 10:16am
    #1
    qt9ukbg60ivjrn
    Closed Accounts Posts: 384 ✭✭


    Me again :D,

    Is there a rule of thumb for survey response rates? I.e. if it is at least x it is deemed acceptable.

    I've read around on the internet that its 30+ respondents. But also read it can be 100+.

    Obviously this depends on what type of sample your using, but for a general population survey is there a rule that is well known, justified and quotable by some researcher. I'm trying to explain my desired minimal response rate and want to put a reference in to justify a number i write down.

    I know response rates go by percentage of people responding to survey, but I sent my survey out on facebook so gods knows how many people had a chance to do it.


Comments

  • #2
    Ostrom
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,483 ✭✭✭Ostrom


    David Some Numerology wrote: »
    Me again :D,

    Is there a rule of thumb for survey response rates? I.e. if it is at least x it is deemed acceptable.

    I've read around on the internet that its 30+ respondents. But also read it can be 100+.

    Obviously this depends on what type of sample your using, but for a general population survey is there a rule that is well known, justified and quotable by some researcher. I'm trying to explain my desired minimal response rate and want to put a reference in to justify a number i write down.

    I know response rates go by percentage of people responding to survey, but I sent my survey out on facebook so gods knows how many people had a chance to do it.

    If you used a stratified or cluster sample, you might be concerned if the response rate left you with an imbalance on the stratifying variables. For simple random or nth samples, it doesn't matter as much. Sample size becomes important when conducting certain tests, as some will require a particular sample size - or if your cell counts fell below the limit for chi-square for example.

    Also, if you had specified a certain desired confidence interval for a particular variable at the design stage, your response rate would be more important, but I'm assuming you didnt do this either. Mark Leary's Introduction to Behavioural Research Methods has a table somewhere in chapter 2 on sample sizes that might be worth a look.


  • #3
    qt9ukbg60ivjrn
    Closed Accounts Posts: 384 ✭✭qt9ukbg60ivjrn


    cheers for the help efla (again!), i'm able to get my hands on that book so i'll take a look (that rhymes!):p


  • #4
    Ostrom
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,483 ✭✭✭Ostrom


    David Some Numerology wrote: »
    cheers for the help efla (again!), i'm able to get my hands on that book so i'll take a look (that rhymes!):p

    No problem!

    Also, if using regression, there are a few rules of thumb on suitable sample sizes - I cant remember them offhand but they should be in that book. It involves multiplying the number of predictors by a certain constant to give a recommended sample size. There are also effect size tables you can look up to determine how big a sample you will need to detect at certain levels. Dont worry too much about the sample size in this respect, as there are a few different ways of reckoning suitability - one of them is bound to suit :)

    Come back if you need these later and i'll dig out the references


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