Coalition Urges Obama to Defend Respondent Incentives

A coalition of US research associations and professional bodies have called on the Obama administration to defend the use of respondent incentives in federal surveys.

The group has formed in response to a bill generated by Republican Representative Scott Tipton, which would prohibit the Bureau of Reclamation and other agencies from funding surveys in which money is included or provided for the benefit of the responder.

In a letter sent to the White House, the coalition stated its concern that the adoption of the bill could 'severely hinder' survey and opinion research across all agencies covered, while establishing a 'dangerous precedent' for all other federally conducted and supported research.

The coalition is also anxious about Congressman Tipton's intention to introduce legislation to ban all federal agencies from including taxpayers dollars in surveys for the benefit of the responder.

'Our members depend on these surveys to be statistically valid and representative of the populations they query,' the letter continued. 'To achieve a representative sample of survey participants, we know many surveys must provide incentives that attract, retain, and compensate individuals for their time and effort. Incentives, such as cash, child care, and food, are imperative, particularly when a survey involves economically disadvantaged individuals.'

The coalition comprises: American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, Association of Population Centers, American Sociological Association, American Statistical Association, Association of Academic Survey Research Organizations, Consortium of Social Science Associations, Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics, Decision Demographics, Marketing Research Association, and Population Association of America.