Effects of Sequential Prepaid Incentives on Response Rates, Data Quality, Sample Representativeness, and Costs in a Mail Survey of Physicians

While collecting high quality data from physicians is critical, response rates for physician surveys are frequently low. A proven method for increasing response in mail surveys is to provide a small, prepaid monetary incentive in the initial mailing. More recently, researchers have begun experimenting with adding a second cash incentive in a follow-up contact in order to increase participation among more reluctant respondents. To assess the...