Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Increasing response rates to postal questionnaires: systematic review.

Phil Edwards1, Ian Roberts, Mike Clarke

  • 1CRASH Trial Co-ordinating Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1B 1DP. phil.edwards@lshtm.ac.uk

BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.)
|May 23, 2002
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Longitudinal Examination of Wandering in Children and Adolescents With Autism.

Autism : the international journal of research and practice·2026
Same author

Heritable single-cell gene expression states shape functional variability in innate immune responses.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Non-invasive assessment of coronary inflammation improves the diagnostic accuracy of coronary death in post-mortem CT angiography.

Journal of cardiovascular computed tomography·2026
Same author

Otological conditions and autism spectrum disorder in Medicaid beneficiaries aged 1 to 20 years: a cross-sectional study.

BMC pediatrics·2026
Same author

TRACTION for Greater Surgical Use of Tranexamic Acid.

The New England journal of medicine·2026
Same author

Tranexamic acid for preventing severe bleeding in caesarean births.

BMJ (Clinical research ed.)·2026

Monetary incentives, shorter questionnaires, and personalized contact significantly boost postal questionnaire response rates. Implementing these strategies can improve research data quality for health researchers.

Area of Science:

  • Health research methodology
  • Survey research
  • Evidence-based practice

Background:

  • Postal questionnaires are a common data collection method in health research.
  • Low response rates can compromise the validity and generalizability of research findings.
  • Identifying effective strategies to increase response rates is crucial for improving research quality.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To systematically review randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating methods to enhance response rates to postal questionnaires.
  • To synthesize evidence on the effectiveness of various interventions aimed at increasing participation in postal surveys.

Main Methods:

  • A systematic review of 292 randomized controlled trials involving 258,315 participants.
  • Interventions reviewed included 75 different strategies for influencing response to postal questionnaires.

Related Experiment Videos

  • The primary outcome measure was the proportion of completed or partially completed questionnaires returned.

    • Main Results:

    • Monetary incentives significantly increased response odds (OR 2.02).
    • Shorter questionnaires (OR 1.86), personalized content (OR 1.16), and colored ink (OR 1.39) also improved response.
    • Pre-contact, follow-up contact, and recorded delivery further enhanced participation rates.

    Conclusions:

    • Health researchers can improve postal questionnaire response rates by employing evidence-based strategies.
    • Effective methods include using incentives, simplifying questionnaire design, personalizing communication, and optimizing delivery methods.
    • Implementing these findings can lead to higher quality research data.