Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 21, 2025

Combining Behavioral Endocrinology and Experimental Economics: Testosterone and Social Decision Making
11:51

Combining Behavioral Endocrinology and Experimental Economics: Testosterone and Social Decision Making

Published on: March 2, 2011

15.5K

The effect of monetary incentive on survey response for vulnerable children and youths: A randomized controlled trial

Jan Hyld Pejtersen1

  • 1VIVE-The Danish Center for Social Science Research, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Plos One
|May 13, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Offering a monetary incentive significantly boosted survey response rates among vulnerable youth. This simple intervention improved participation in research, enhancing data validity for this often-underserved population.

Area of Science:

  • Social Sciences
  • Psychology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Non-responders in surveys can introduce bias, compromising study validity.
  • Increasing response rates is crucial for reliable research findings.
  • Vulnerable children and youth are a population group that often exhibits low survey response rates.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if an unconditional monetary incentive increases survey response rates in vulnerable children and youth.
  • To assess the impact of a €15 supermarket voucher on participation in a postal questionnaire survey.

Main Methods:

  • A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 262 participants (mean age 16.7 years, 67.9% female).
  • Participants were randomly assigned to receive a questionnaire with or without a €15 voucher.
  • Poisson regression was used to analyze differences in response rates between groups.

Main Results:

  • The intervention group (voucher) achieved a 75.5% response rate, compared to 42.9% in the control group (no voucher).
  • The incentive significantly increased response rates (Rate Ratio [RR] 1.73; 95% CI 1.38-2.17).
  • The incentive effect was more pronounced in males (RR 2.81) than females (RR 1.43).

Conclusions:

  • Unconditional monetary incentives are effective in increasing survey response rates among vulnerable children and youth.
  • This strategy can improve data collection from hard-to-reach populations.
  • Further research could explore optimal incentive levels and types for different demographics.
Abstract

More Related Videos

A Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Vulnerable Mexican American Adolescents06:15

A Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Vulnerable Mexican American Adolescents

Published on: July 10, 2017

13.3K
An Electrophysiology Protocol to Measure Reward Anticipation and Processing in Children05:04

An Electrophysiology Protocol to Measure Reward Anticipation and Processing in Children

Published on: October 4, 2018

7.3K

Related Concept Videos

Surveys02:16

Surveys

Often, psychologists develop surveys as a means of gathering data. Surveys are lists of questions to be answered by research participants, and can be delivered as paper-and-pencil questionnaires, administered electronically, or conducted verbally. Generally, the survey itself can be completed in a short time, and the ease of administering a survey makes it easy to collect data from a large number of people.
16.5K
Blinding01:11

Blinding

Blinding is a commonly used method of not telling participants which treatment a subject is receiving. Blinding is a critical part of a randomized control trial or RCT. It reduces the bias that affects the results. In an RCT, blinding is used in the form of a placebo. A placebo effect occurs when untreated subjects falsely believe they have received the treatment and report improved symptoms. A placebo or a dummy treatment is administered to subjects to negate the bias caused by such an effect.
3.8K
Operant Conditioning Intervention01:24

Operant Conditioning Intervention

Operant conditioning serves as a foundational principle in therapeutic interventions aimed at modifying maladaptive behaviors. Central to this approach is the notion that behaviors, both adaptive and maladaptive, are learned through reinforcement. By analyzing the environmental factors that reinforce problematic behaviors, clinicians can design interventions to weaken these reinforcements and replace maladaptive behaviors with healthier alternatives.
In operant conditioning, behaviors that are...
370
Group Design02:01

Group Design

The most basic experimental design involves two groups: the experimental group and the control group. The two groups are designed to be the same except for one difference— experimental manipulation. The experimental group gets the experimental manipulation—that is, the treatment or variable being tested—and the control group does not. Since experimental manipulation is the only difference between the experimental and control groups, we can be sure that any differences between...
10.0K
Survey Safety01:28

Survey Safety

Surveying near highways, rough terrain, or power lines involves significant risks. Working along highways is particularly dangerous and requires the use of warning signs and flagmen. It is safest to avoid working directly on roads and use offsets whenever possible. When highway work is unavoidable, it must follow all safety guidelines. Surveyors should wear bright clothing, such as orange reflective vests, to ensure visibility to motorists, coworkers, and hunters. In construction zones, wearing...
326
Randomized Experiments01:13

Randomized Experiments

The randomization process involves assigning study participants randomly to experimental or control groups based on their probability of being equally assigned. Randomization is meant to eliminate selection bias and balance known and unknown confounding factors so that the control group is similar to the treatment group as much as possible. A computer program and a random number generator can be used to assign participants to groups in a way that minimizes bias.
Simple randomization
Simple...
8.7K