Abstract
Background: Physician surveys are an important tool to assess attitudes, beliefs and self-reported behaviors of this policy relevant group. In order for a physician to respond to a mailed survey, they must first open the envelope. While there is some evidence that package elements can impact physician response rates, the impact of an envelope teaser is unknown. Here we assess this by testing the impact of adding a brightly colored "$25 incentive" sticker to the outside of an envelope on response rates and nonresponse bias in a survey of physicians. Methods. In the second mailing of a survey assessing physicians' moral beliefs and views on controversial health care topics, initial nonrespondents were randomly assigned to receive a survey in an envelope with a colored "$25 incentive" sticker (teaser group) or an envelope without a sticker (control group). Response rates were compared between the teaser and control groups overall and by age, gender, region of the United States, specialty and years in practice. Nonresponse bias was assessed by comparing the demographic composition of the respondents to the nonrespondents in the experimental and control condition. Results: No significant differences in response rates were observed between the experimental and control conditions overall (p = 0.38) or after stratifying by age, gender, region, or practice type. Within the teaser condition, there was some variation in response rate by years since graduation. There was no independent effect of the teaser on response when simultaneously controlling for demographic characteristics (OR = 0.875, p = 0.4112). Conclusions: Neither response rates nor nonresponse bias were impacted by the use of an envelope teaser in a survey of physicians in the United States.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 41 |
| Journal | BMC Medical Research Methodology |
| Volume | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2012 |
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Keywords
- Physician surveys
- Response rates
- Survey methods
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Epidemiology
- Health Informatics
Cite this
Getting physicians to open the survey : Little evidence that an envelope teaser increases response rates. / Ziegenfuss, Jeanette Y.; Burmeister, Kelly; James, Katherine M.; Haas, Lindsey; Tilburt, Jon C; Beebe, Timothy J.
In: BMC Medical Research Methodology, Vol. 12, 41, 2012.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Getting physicians to open the survey
T2 - Little evidence that an envelope teaser increases response rates
AU - Ziegenfuss, Jeanette Y.
AU - Burmeister, Kelly
AU - James, Katherine M.
AU - Haas, Lindsey
AU - Tilburt, Jon C
AU - Beebe, Timothy J.
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Background: Physician surveys are an important tool to assess attitudes, beliefs and self-reported behaviors of this policy relevant group. In order for a physician to respond to a mailed survey, they must first open the envelope. While there is some evidence that package elements can impact physician response rates, the impact of an envelope teaser is unknown. Here we assess this by testing the impact of adding a brightly colored "$25 incentive" sticker to the outside of an envelope on response rates and nonresponse bias in a survey of physicians. Methods. In the second mailing of a survey assessing physicians' moral beliefs and views on controversial health care topics, initial nonrespondents were randomly assigned to receive a survey in an envelope with a colored "$25 incentive" sticker (teaser group) or an envelope without a sticker (control group). Response rates were compared between the teaser and control groups overall and by age, gender, region of the United States, specialty and years in practice. Nonresponse bias was assessed by comparing the demographic composition of the respondents to the nonrespondents in the experimental and control condition. Results: No significant differences in response rates were observed between the experimental and control conditions overall (p = 0.38) or after stratifying by age, gender, region, or practice type. Within the teaser condition, there was some variation in response rate by years since graduation. There was no independent effect of the teaser on response when simultaneously controlling for demographic characteristics (OR = 0.875, p = 0.4112). Conclusions: Neither response rates nor nonresponse bias were impacted by the use of an envelope teaser in a survey of physicians in the United States.
AB - Background: Physician surveys are an important tool to assess attitudes, beliefs and self-reported behaviors of this policy relevant group. In order for a physician to respond to a mailed survey, they must first open the envelope. While there is some evidence that package elements can impact physician response rates, the impact of an envelope teaser is unknown. Here we assess this by testing the impact of adding a brightly colored "$25 incentive" sticker to the outside of an envelope on response rates and nonresponse bias in a survey of physicians. Methods. In the second mailing of a survey assessing physicians' moral beliefs and views on controversial health care topics, initial nonrespondents were randomly assigned to receive a survey in an envelope with a colored "$25 incentive" sticker (teaser group) or an envelope without a sticker (control group). Response rates were compared between the teaser and control groups overall and by age, gender, region of the United States, specialty and years in practice. Nonresponse bias was assessed by comparing the demographic composition of the respondents to the nonrespondents in the experimental and control condition. Results: No significant differences in response rates were observed between the experimental and control conditions overall (p = 0.38) or after stratifying by age, gender, region, or practice type. Within the teaser condition, there was some variation in response rate by years since graduation. There was no independent effect of the teaser on response when simultaneously controlling for demographic characteristics (OR = 0.875, p = 0.4112). Conclusions: Neither response rates nor nonresponse bias were impacted by the use of an envelope teaser in a survey of physicians in the United States.
KW - Physician surveys
KW - Response rates
KW - Survey methods
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84859095629&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84859095629&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/1471-2288-12-41
DO - 10.1186/1471-2288-12-41
M3 - Article
C2 - 22463734
AN - SCOPUS:84859095629
VL - 12
JO - BMC Medical Research Methodology
JF - BMC Medical Research Methodology
SN - 1471-2288
M1 - 41
ER -