What’s a Good Response For a Mail Survey? Over the last nearly 80 years, Readex has completed countless mail surveys in a broad spectrum of markets. Based on this experience, when a mail survey is needed, we are often asked about response rate expectations. The short answer is this: It depends. What main factors influence […]

Are Incentives Worthwhile? Does the use of an incentive in surveys provide a benefit in terms of increased response? Typically yes. The specific increase will always depend on the type of incentive, nature of the market you are working in, survey subject matter and survey length. And it’s difficult to predict the amount of “lift” […]

What’s the Best Sample Size? We’re often asked, “What’s the best sample size?” Seems simple enough, but it isn’t. Larger is better, because the more responses you have, the lower your margin of error (MOE). However, we realize there sometimes is the need to balance precision with budget. For many applications, an acceptable MOE is […]

Lousy List, Lousy Survey? We all know that a mail survey’s mailing list is the lifeline of a research project. The mailing list, or survey sample, is meant to represent your population of interest—the group of people you wish to learn something about. Recently, we implemented a mail survey that was intended to represent a […]

Will Color Printing Give Your Survey a Boost? Occasionally we are asked if color printing (versus black and white) is better to use as part of a survey mailing? Will this treatment generate more attention and ultimately a better response? Our Opinion: If you’re looking to use color to boost your survey’s response rate, it […]

The Importance of Questionnaire Design Planning a survey requires many steps and decisions along the way: “How many people do I need to survey? How am I going to distribute the survey?” And, while people often figure out what questions they want to ask, many overlook the importance of expert, unbiased questionnaire design. When you […]

Does a Dollar Bill Help Lift Response? What’s the easiest way to boost your mail survey’s response rate? Place a dollar bill in your survey mailing piece. Over the years, we have included various types of incentives in mail survey kits. You name it, we’ve used it: Magnets, letter openers, coupons—whatever will fit in the […]

How Might Response Rate Affect Your Survey? Survey 2: Four of the ten students respond, including the two who received A’s, so according to this survey, 50% of the students received A’s. Survey 3: Six of the ten students respond. With two receiving A’s, this survey reports that 33% of the students received A’s. So, […]

Evaluating Research Proposals Comparing proposals “apples-to-apples” is crucial to establishing which one will best meet your needs. Consider these ideas to help you focus on the details that contribute to a successful survey. Make sure the proposal responds to your objectives. The proposal process begins well before you ask any research firm for quote. The […]