We conducted a randomized experiment that evaluated how the inclusion of a Quick Response (QR) code in mailed survey recruitment materials for a sequential mixed-mode (push to web followed by self-administered mail back) survey fielded with a statewide probability address-based sample impacted survey participation. Each address was randomly assigned to receive mailed recruitment materials with either a unique uniform resource locator (URL) only or a unique URL with a QR code. The inclusion of a QR code resulted in a small (+1.31 percentage point) increase in overall participation and a small (+1.01 percentage point) increase in the share of recipients …

Survey studies of clinicians often face the challenge of achieving sufficient response rates to adequately understand practice realities. We briefly report our experience recruiting a sample of medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) providers in a southwestern U.S. state (Arizona) to study the impact of temporary federal regulatory changes on their implementation of treatment accommodations to increase access to methadone and buprenorphine during COVID. After multiple and varied recruitment approaches using a modified Dillman method, we achieved a response rate of 5.4%. This was significantly lower than reported rates from other studies of 43-48%. To examine why we struggled to …

Invitation letters to web surveys often contain information on how long it will take to complete a web survey. When the stated length in an invitation of a survey is short, it could help to convince respondents to participate in the survey. When it is long respondents may choose not to participate, and when the actual length is longer than the stated length there may be a risk of dropout. This paper reports on an Randomised Control Trial (RCT) conducted in a cross-sectional survey conducted in the Netherlands. The RCT included different version of the stated length of a survey …