STUBBING OUR TOES FOR A FOOT IN THE DOOR? PRIOR CONTACT, INCENTIVES AND SURVEY RESPONSE

Abstract

The problem of rising non-response afflicts all survey organizations, academic, government, and business alike. One natural response to the increasing refusal rates is to offer incentives to respondents, and a wide range of studies demonstrate higher response rates with the use of incentives. But is it really the incentive that affects the response rate, or is it the stimulus letter accompanying the incentive that affects responsiveness? This paper analyzes an incentive experiment conducted by the National Election Studies with the 1991 Panel Study of the Dynamics of War demonstrating how prior contact influences survey response.