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Activity Number:
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253
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Type:
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Contributed
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Date/Time:
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Tuesday, July 31, 2007 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
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Sponsor:
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Section on Survey Research Methods
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| Abstract - #309326 |
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Title:
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Money Can Buy Me Love: Experiments To Increase Response Rates Using Monetary Incentives
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Author(s):
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Andrew Zukerberg*+ and Megan Henly and David Hall
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Companies:
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U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Census Bureau
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Address:
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4600 Silver Hill Rd., Washington, DC, 20233,
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Keywords:
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incentives ; surveys
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Abstract:
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This paper focuses on three experiments designed to increase survey response through the use of monetary incentives. These experiments were conducted on two surveys of the college-educated population. In the first experiment, we targeted "potential refusals" and "final refusals." The next experiment targeted low responding groups. The final experiment focused on noncontact sample cases. In all experiments, cases were randomly assigned to either a control or treatment group. The control group received a letter encouraging survey participation and the treatment group received an inactive $20 gift card with the letter. The treatment letter indicated that the gift card would be activated upon completion of the survey. In this paper, we examine the effect the incentive had on response in each experiment and make recommendations on the use of incentives in future survey years.
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