I am conducting a survey to gain a better understanding as to whether the education campaigns run as part of my project on Community Weed management, and the onground contractor works has been effective. This will guide further strategies to adopt for community engagement tactics, with relevant barriers and benefits infomation.
I am uncertain at this stage how many surveys to mail out as this will depend on what we can expect as a response rate. How many survey responses do I need to have a meaningful outcome to the survey? If I have an estimated % figure, then I can work backwards from there and send out an appropraite amount.
Any comments appreciated !!
Marianne
Marianne Sawyer
Natural Resources Officer
Cardinia Shire Council
Australia
Hello Marianne,
Response rate will depend on numerous factors, including how relevant the topic is for your sampled respondents, respondent recognition of the entity conducting the survey, length and format of the survey, pre-notice of the survey to the sampled population, follow-ups to non-respondents, and the benefit to the respondents for completing the survey (ability to provide useful input for something they care about, an incentive for completing the survey, etc.).
I have gotten response rates of 50+% in similar situations when we have implemented the survey by the book, but its also possible to end up much lower like 10%. When that happens, you have to worry about whether the responses you are getting are truly representative of the population you are surveying. You are best off sampling a reasonable number and putting your efforts into getting a good response rate (with a good survey design and follow ups to non-respondents).
Hope this helps.
Ingo
Ingo Bensch
Energy Center of Wisconsin
United States