IPSIndian Journal of Pharmacology
Home  IPS  Feedback Subscribe Top cited articles Login 
Users Online : 13719 
Small font sizeDefault font sizeIncrease font size
Navigate Here
  Search
 
  
Resource Links
 »  Similar in PUBMED
 »  Search Pubmed for
 »  Search in Google Scholar for
 »  Article in PDF (221 KB)
 »  Citation Manager
 »  Access Statistics
 »  Reader Comments
 »  Email Alert *
 »  Add to My List *
* Registration required (free)

 
In This Article
 »  References

 Article Access Statistics
    Viewed3239    
    Printed193    
    Emailed0    
    PDF Downloaded147    
    Comments [Add]    
    Cited by others 4    

Recommend this journal

 


 
 Table of Contents    
LETTER TO EDITOR
Year : 2011  |  Volume : 43  |  Issue : 1  |  Page : 93-94
 

How to increase response rate to a questionnaire study?


Department of Pharmacology, Government Medical College, Surat, Gujarat, India

Date of Web Publication15-Jan-2011

Correspondence Address:
Jaykaran
Department of Pharmacology, Government Medical College, Surat, Gujarat
India
Login to access the Email id

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/0253-7613.75687

Rights and Permissions



How to cite this article:
Jaykaran. How to increase response rate to a questionnaire study?. Indian J Pharmacol 2011;43:93-4

How to cite this URL:
Jaykaran. How to increase response rate to a questionnaire study?. Indian J Pharmacol [serial online] 2011 [cited 2023 Sep 28];43:93-4. Available from: https://www.ijp-online.com/text.asp?2011/43/1/93/75687


Sir,

I read with interest the article entitled "Attitude and opinion towards essential medicine formulary" by Sharma et al. [1] In this study, the authors mentioned that out of 200 doctors who were approached, only 90 (45%) completed the questionnaire. It is also said, "non responders constitute a major problem in such surveys". However, it appears that in those studies where response rate is low, chances of bias are high as only those subjects who felt strongly about the survey question may have responded positively and therefore the results obtained may not be generalized. Several journals do not publish a paper if the response rate is less than 70%. [2] Several measures that can be adopted to increase the response rate are as follows [3] :

  1. Questionnaire should be clearly designed and should have a simple layout.
  2. Some incentives or prize should be offered to the participants in return for completion.
  3. It should be adequately piloted and tested.
  4. Participants should be notified in advance and invitation should be sought.
  5. Aims of the study and means of completing the questionnaire should be clearly explained to participants.
  6. In case of postal questionnaires, a stamped addressed envelope should be included.
  7. Researcher should be present on site to answer queries raised by participants and collect the completed questionnaire.
  8. Participants should feel that they are a stakeholder in the study.
  9. Questions should be framed in such a way that they attract the participant attention.
  10. Questionnaire should be concise and should have clear focus and purpose.
  11. Questionnaire should be clear, unambiguous and appealing to look at.


In cases of studies with lower response rate, it would help to compare characteristics of people who responded with the people who did not respond. If there is significant difference of characteristics between the groups, the results cannot be generalized. On the other hand, if there is no significant difference between the groups, the results can be generalized even if the response rate is low. [2]

 
 » References Top

1.Sharma S, Kh R, Chaudhury RR. Attitude and opinion towards essential medicine formulary. Indian J Pharmacol 2010;42:150-2.   Back to cited text no. 1
[PUBMED]  Medknow Journal  
2.Greenhalgh T. How to read a paper, 3 rd ed. London: BMJ Publications; 2001.   Back to cited text no. 2
    
3.Boynton PM. A hand on guide to questionnaire research part two: administering, analyzing, and reporting your questionnaire. BMJ 2004;328:1372-5.  Back to cited text no. 3
[PUBMED]  [FULLTEXT]  



This article has been cited by
1 Effect of Emotional Intelligence and Demographic Characteristics on Psychological Capital among Chemical Engineering Students
An Jie Lye, Peng Yen Liew, Hidayah Mohd Fadzil, Chan Choong Foong
Journal of Chemical Education. 2022;
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
2 Questionnaire-based Pan-India survey for impact assessment of National Formulary of India
SudhirChandra Sarangi, Bikash Medhi, Ajay Prakash, Jai Prakash, YogendraK Gupta
Indian Journal of Pharmacology. 2021; 53(2): 115
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
3 Assessing and Modelling Perceived Safety and Comfort of Women during Ridesharing
Aditi Meshram, Pushpa Choudhary, Nagendra R Velaga
Transportation Research Procedia. 2020; 48: 2852
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
4 Preparing health professionals to work in diabetes education and care: a situation analysis
Florencia Marķa Aguirre Seret,Trisha Dunning,Anne Belton,Susan McLaughlin
International Journal of Health Promotion and Education. 2014; : 1
[Pubmed] | [DOI]



 

Top
Print this article  Email this article
 

    

Site Map | Home | Contact Us | Feedback | Copyright and Disclaimer | Privacy Notice
Online since 20th July '04
Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow