Factors Affecting Response Rate in a Survey of Paramedics: Report from The National Study to Prevent Blood Exposure in Paramedics

• Activity Number: 172
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, August 4, 2003 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Survey Research Methods
• Author(s): Jean G. Orelien*+ and Jack Leiss and Jennifer Tierney and Jennifer Ratcliffe and Sara Baden
• Companies: North Carolina State University and Analytical Sciences, Inc. and Analytical Sciences, Inc. and Analytical Sciences, Inc. and Analytical Sciences, Inc.
• Keywords: incentive ; response ; rate ; survey ; paramedics

Abstract

In a pilot study to assess exposure to blood among paramedics, the effects of three factors (incentive, regular stamp versus business reply stamp on a return postcard, and a refusal option) on nonresponse were tested. There were three levels for the incentive factor (a sticker with the EMS logo, a chance to win a Palm Pilot with EMS software, and no incentive) and two levels for the other factors. The 12 treatment combinations were randomly assigned to 672 paramedics selected in a two-stage design. States were selected in the first stage with probability proportional to size. In the second stage, simple random sampling (SRS) was used to select paramedics. The design of the pilot study mirrors that of the main study for which data collection has since been completed. For the incentive factor, a 57% response rate was achieved in the group that received the sticker versus a response rate of respectively 52% and 46% in the groups that received the lottery or no incentive. There were no notable differences with the other two factors. The results suggest that giving a token incentive as opposed to a chance to win in a lottery or no incentive has the most significance in increasing response rate.