Diary method to assess survey invitation frequency and survey experience

Abstract

The survey commons is a shared resource, but our collective practices affect survey fatigue, response burden, and survey experience. These issues are influenced by survey invitation frequency, survey source and purpose, and survey design quality. Yet few methods have been established to assess these factors collectively. As such, we developed and tested a web-based diary method to collectively explore these factors. Participants reported on the survey invitations they received in a one-month period, including the number of invitations, the contact and response mode, sponsor, topic (purpose), completion, and the perceived impact of the survey on society and the participant. These exploratory results provide a scalable methodology to evaluate survey invitation frequency, the characteristics of those invitations, and participants’ perceptions of surveys relevant to the contemporary survey commons and nonresponse issues.