Willingness to participate in data collection |
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| Coordinator 1 | Dr Michael Weinhardt (German Centre of Gerontology) |
Researchers find it increasingly difficult to encourage respondents to cooperate in different steps of the survey process. For example, motivating respondents to participate in surveys has become more complex over time, manifested in declining response rates over the years. However, initial participation is only the first step in data collection. Depending on the type of survey, a range of other steps may be involved, all of which require respondents’ willingness and motivation. Such steps entail completing the survey, i.e., providing answers and filling in the questionnaire, fulfilling additional tasks such as completing diaries or wearing electronic devices, giving informed consent to record linkage, and last but not least, agreeing to be re-interviewed in the context of panel studies. Factors influencing willingness and motivation may relate to survey characteristics such as topic and interview duration, the overall survey climate in a given community and society, as well as time constraints or survey fatigue at the individual level. To increase motivation, it is essential, on the one hand, to investigate respondent characteristics that influence the decision to cooperate. On the other hand, we need to identify measures that researchers may take to successfully boost respondents’ motivation and willingness to participate at the different stages of data collection, such as monetary incentives or an appealing survey design. The session brings together contributions looking at various aspects of survey participation and what researchers can do to increase the willingness to cooperate in the survey process.