To the Editor: Survey data are difficult to publish when response rates fall below 60%. Reminder letters are the most reliable method of improving response rates in postal surveys,1,2 and three to four reminders are needed to achieve the 60% benchmark. The additional benefit of sending five or more reminders appears negligible, suggesting that four is the optimum number to maximise response rates using this approach.1
The full article is accessible to AMA
members and paid subscribers.
Login to MJA or subscribe now.
Correspondence:
- 1. Koloski N, Talley NJ, Boyce PM, Morris-Yates AD. The effects of questionnaire length and lottery ticket inducement on the response rate in mail surveys. Psychol Health 2001; 16: 67-75.
- 2. Kalantar JS, Talley NJ. The effects of lottery incentive and length of questionnaire on health survey response rates: a randomised study. J Clin Epidemiol 1999; 52: 1117-1122.
Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.