Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

E-mail Survey Response Rates: A Review

2006; Wiley; Volume: 6; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1083-6101.2001.tb00117.x

1083-6101

Kim Bartel Sheehan,

Privacy, Security, and Data Protection

Electronic mail (e-mail) has been used to distribute surveys and collect data from online users for almost fifteen years. However, some have suggested that the use of e-mail is becoming obsolete. This study analyzes response rates to e-mail surveys undertaken since 1986 and examines five influences to response rates: the year the study was undertaken, the number of questions in the survey, the number of pre-notification contacts, the number of follow-up contacts and survey topic salience. Response rates to e-mail surveys have significantly decreased since 1986. Correlation and regression analyses suggest that year that the survey was undertaken and number of follow-up contacts had the most influence on response rates. A discussion of other influences and future research into this area is provided.