2007 Tracking Study Nears Launch
By Patrick Glaser,
CMOR, Director of Respondent Cooperation
August 2007
Are you interested in average response rates for the research profession? CMOR's Tracking Study is your answer.
Last August, CMOR conducted a pilot version of our “Research Profession Tracking Study” (what we refer to as the Tracking Study). Thanks to KL Communications (which programmed and hosted the project) and to the 80 participating organizations who helped by participating in the trial run, CMOR was able to revise the design and make necessary changes in preparation for the launch of the full study, scheduled for late this summer.
Changes to the Original Design
The principal goal of the Tracking Study has always been to gauge average response rates across the survey research profession. Along the way, the study has taken on new design features that lend insight to other areas. These updates and revisions help to create new, original data for the survey research profession.
Some of the things the Tracking Study has explored in the past are:
- average survey incentives being used throughout the survey research profession
- level of training provided for interviewers (in the case of telephone and in-person surveys)
- descriptions of the specific components researchers are including in survey introductions and pre-notification alerts
- length of survey
Measures are added or taken-away with different iterations of the study in order to maintain a fresh and robust knowledge base. Notably, the study covers all modes of survey data collection- telephone, in-person, online, mail and multi-modal designs. Further analysis of the new results will provide insights into the impact of the variables on each other (for example, the impact of the use of incentives and length on cooperation for mail versus online; the methodology used to achieve the highest response rates when conducting research with children, etc.).
This year, CMOR has collaborated with The United States Bureau of the Census to design several new measures that will capture information about multi-lingual surveys. A topic of great interest to the survey research profession, the issue of multiple languages will grow and expand as the population of the United States continues to diversify with non-English speakers.
Additionally, participants who completed the pilot version of the study last summer will notice that the survey is much less burdensome this year. CMOR has made numerous refinements in order to reduce the level of complexity so that participation in the Tracking Study should involve little or no record checking. All of the questions can be answered with a basic knowledge of the particular survey for which you are inputting data.
How to Participate
You are eligible to participate if you have worked on, administered or conducted a survey in the past 12 months. Chances are, if you are reading this article, you may be receiving an invitation to participate.
CMOR needs all researchers to participate in order to ensure the project’s success. The Tracking Study is the only regular, comprehensive effort that provides response rate data to the survey research profession. When you receive your invitation, please join the effort. All participants will receive the results from the study, complete with an updated analysis of response rates throughout the survey research profession.
To learn more about the Tracking Study or to make sure that you receive your invitation for participation, please contact Patrick Glaser at pglaser@cmor.org
