Response and relevance

Confidence in survey findings, and therefore willingness to base business decisions on those findings, is often related to the response rate a survey achieves.

As response rates are often said to be lower than those achieved in the past, some car concerned about using survey results as a business decision base.

In a recent Quirk's Marketing Research Review article, Philip Derham shows that:

1. While similar survey approaches will obtain similar response rates,

2. More precisely targeted survey invitations result in more or most of the respondents being relevant to the issue researched.

3. So the effective sample is significantly stronger, and

4. Managers can securely use the survey results as a base for their business decisions.

The issue is not response rate, but respondent relevance, as the article explains in more nuanced, researcher style detail.

To see the evidence that lead Derham Marketing Research to conclude the question managers should ask is not what was the response rate? but what was the respondent relevance? email Philip Derham today.

For more information,

When knowing will strengthen your decisions...^TM

please email Philip Derham today at derhamp@derhamresearch.com.au

or call him on 03 9897 3011.

Copyright © 2008 Derham Marketing Research Pty. Ltd.    Last modified: June 29, 2010.