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Examining the Effect of Providing a Pen on the Response Rate to a Mail Survey

Examining the Effect of Providing a Pen on the Response Rate to a Mail Survey We report the results of a randomized experiment conducted in Japan as part of a mail survey of voters. In this experiment, we examined whether or not inserting a pen in the questionnaire would improve the response rate. We employed a two-by-two treatment in which we varied the price of the pen (high-priced or low-priced) and whether or not the pen was inserted in a paper-made box. We found that providing a pen increased the response rate by more than nine percentage points. We also found that a low-priced pen inserted in a box was more effective than other condisions. However, the effect of the high-priced pen was not statistically distinguishable from that of the low-priced one. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Behaviormetrika Springer Journals

Examining the Effect of Providing a Pen on the Response Rate to a Mail Survey

Arai, Kiichiro; Yamada, Kyohei
Behaviormetrika , Volume 43 (2) – Jul 15, 2016
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19 pages

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Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 by The Behaviormetric Society
Subject
Statistics; Statistical Theory and Methods; Statistics for Business, Management, Economics, Finance, Insurance; Statistics for Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, Chemistry and Earth Sciences
ISSN
0385-7417
eISSN
1349-6964
DOI
10.2333/bhmk.43.83
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

We report the results of a randomized experiment conducted in Japan as part of a mail survey of voters. In this experiment, we examined whether or not inserting a pen in the questionnaire would improve the response rate. We employed a two-by-two treatment in which we varied the price of the pen (high-priced or low-priced) and whether or not the pen was inserted in a paper-made box. We found that providing a pen increased the response rate by more than nine percentage points. We also found that a low-priced pen inserted in a box was more effective than other condisions. However, the effect of the high-priced pen was not statistically distinguishable from that of the low-priced one.

Journal

Behaviormetrika – Springer Journals

Published: Jul 15, 2016

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