What is response rate?
Response rate is defined as the number of filled-in questionnaires received back as a percentage of the number of questionnaires sent out.
Why is a high response rate important?
 | A high response rate ensures:
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What is the minimum response percentage necessary to be able to draw reliable conclusions?
There is no one precise figure one can give here, as it is highly dependent on, inter alia:
- the desired detail of the analyses and conclusions;
- the size of your enterprise;
- the number of desired categories within the socio-demographic variables.
What is a “normal” response rate?
Whilst it is not possible to give an exact “target figure”, it is possible to give certain margins based on previous customer projects. Where the response rate in your organization falls within these margins, you can talk of a “normal” response pattern.
Some further figures with which you can compare the response pattern in your own organization:
- The average total response rate for online ZebraZone customer projects (not including projects during school vacations) is 76%.
- Online projects achieving a response rate of 70% or more stood at 50% response rate after an average 6 days, at 60% after an average 10 days and 70% after an average 13 days.
- On average almost one third of total responses are already received within the first day.
How can we maximize the response rate?
ZebraZone’s extensive experience of perception measurement enables to give you 20 practical recommendations to guarantee a high response rate.
With ZebraZone, data can be gathered online (electronic questionnaires) and/or in writing (paper questionnaires). During online data collection, HR managers, project group members or executives can follow the response rate on the customer section of our website: the ZebraZone Toolset. This real-time tracking allows your organization to take action if it thinks that response rates in certain segments could be better. With paper surveys, ZebraZone can also report intermediate response rates to your organization at regular intervals. In this way, targeted action can also be taken for this type of survey if certain segments turn out to be under-represented. Our consultants will inform you about the response rate during the process of data collection. In addition, they will also give you the appropriate recommendations in order to maximize this response rate.