Skip to main content
Article
Caffeine, cajoling, and other strategies to maximize clinician survey response rates
Meyers Primary Care Institute Publications
  • Elaine Puleo, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  • Jane G. Zapka, University of Massachusetts Medical School
  • Mary Jo White, University of Massachusetts Medical School
  • Judy Mouchawar, Kaiser Permanente
  • Carol Somkin, Kaiser Permanente
  • Stephen H. Taplin, National Cancer Institute
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Medicine, Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine; Meyers Primary Care Institute
Publication Date
2002-6-25
Document Type
Article
Subjects
Breast Neoplasms; Data Collection; Female; Health Maintenance Organizations; *Health Services Research; Humans; Postal Service; Questionnaires; *Research Design; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms
Abstract

An ongoing objective in health services research is to increase response rates to clinician surveys to ensure generalizability of findings. Three HMOs in the Cancer Research Network participated in a primary care clinician survey to better understand organizational characteristics affecting adoption and implementation of breast and cervical cancer screening guidelines. A four-stage data collection strategy was implemented to maximize response. This included careful attention to survey design and layout, extensive piloting, choice of token incentive, use of "local champions," and denominator management. An overall response rate of 91% was attained, ranging from 83 to 100% among the plans (N = 621). Although the response rate after the second stage of data collection met commonly used standards, the authors argue for the four-stage method due to the possibility of differences when comparing early and late responders. This is important when multiple plans with differing structure and internal characteristics are surveyed.

Source
Eval Health Prof. 2002 Jun;25(2):169-84.
Related Resources
Link to Article in PubMed
PubMed ID
12026751
Citation Information
Elaine Puleo, Jane G. Zapka, Mary Jo White, Judy Mouchawar, et al.. "Caffeine, cajoling, and other strategies to maximize clinician survey response rates" Vol. 25 Iss. 2 (2002) ISSN: 0163-2787 (Linking)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/elaine_puleo/9/