| Response Rate Issue Aired Down Under | ||
| 28/11/00 | ||
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It is not just the UK industry facing the problem of declining response rates as new research in Australia suggests that rates have declined by approximately 3% every year since 1988, according to a study by Monash University's Department of Marketing. The research, jointly funded by the MRSA and AMRO, comprised a systematic review of all published information on response rates and the collection of data from the Australian market research industry. According to Mike Shaw (as reported in this month’s edition of Research News), one of the study’s authors, "It is critical that we ensure quantitative research is representative of the target population - any decline in response rates can have a detrimental impact on our ability to do this. As an industry, we need to get more sophisticated about the way we report on response rates, by looking in detail at those in-sample who do not respond." For the purposes of the research, response rate is taken to mean the "proportion of people in-sample who ultimately agree to participate in the research". An operational definition of 'people in-sample' includes interviewees, refusals, terminates, non-contacts, those regarded as unsuitable to interview plus an allowance for those of unknown eligibility. However, simpler definitions are more common in the industry. Mike Shaw added "From this recent Australian data, it appears that around a three percent decline per annum is occurring. However there is considerable variability in this estimate, which means that it would be difficult for an individual firm to detect the trend from one survey to the next. This may account for the view expressed by several sources that, while there was concern about the industry in general, response rates were not really a problem in their own company." Anecdotal evidence (during the study compilation) showed that many in the market research industry in Australia view competition from telemarketers as a major reason for a growing refusal rate. The report notes that, at darker moments, some members have talked about the undesirable practices of others within the industry as a factor in the lack of co-operation to participate -excessively long questionnaires being a case in point. But the preliminary study shows that the decline is real and, although some80 factors have been shown to influence response rates (and effectively mask any trends), the report's authors called on the industry to be proactive. Some of the report’s recommendations include:
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