Experimental Evidence of the Effect of Monetary Incentives on Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Response: Experiences from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)

Purpose: Describe preferences toward COVID-19 testing features (method, location, hypothetical monetary incentive) and simulate the effect of monetary incentives on willingness to test. Design: Online cross-sectional survey administered in July 2020. Subjects: 1,505 nationally representative U.S. respondents. Measures: Choice of preferred COVID-19 testing options in discrete choice experiment. Options differed by method (nasal-swab, saliva), location (hospital/clinic, drive-through, at-home), and monetary incentive ($0, $10, $20). Analysis: Latent class conditional logit model to classify preferences, mixed logit model to simulate incentive effectiveness. Results: Preferences were categorized into 4 groups: 34% (n = 517) considered testing comfort (saliva versus nasal swab) most important, 27% (n = 408) were willing to trade comfort for monetary incentives, 19% (n = 287) would only test at convenient locations, 20% (n = 293) avoided testing altogether. Relative to no monetary incentives, incentives of $100 increased the percent of testing avoiders (16%) and convenience seekers (70%) that were willing to test. Conclusion: Preferences toward different COVID-19 testing features vary, highlighting the need to match testing features with individuals to monitor the spread of COVID-19.

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Torsional Stiffness of a Thin-Walled Beam Braced by Pinned or Rigidly Fixed Transverse Diaphragms

Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science ◽

10.1243/jmes_jour_1973_015_062_02 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 15 (5) ◽

pp. 351-356

Author(s):

T. Harrison ◽

J. M. Siddall

Keyword(s):

Experimental Evidence ◽

Theoretical Work ◽

Torsional Stiffness ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Cross Sectional Profile ◽

Thin Walled ◽

Sectional Profile ◽

Good Agreement

The torsional stiffness of a thin-walled beam of open cross-sectional profile braced by evenly spaced transverse diaphragms is studied. Diaphragms rigidly fixed or attached by frictionless pins are treated and it is seen that, in either case, the only effect is to modify the St Venant torsional constant for the thin-walled beam. The theoretical work is supported by experimental evidence from two braced perspex channels which simulate the two assumed methods of attaching the diaphragms. Good agreement is demonstrated.

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"Self-employment and stress: Cross-sectional, longitudinal and experimental evidence"

Academy of Management Proceedings ◽

10.5465/ambpp.2016.323 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2016 (1) ◽

pp. 15681

Author(s):

Cornelius A. Rietveld ◽

Jolanda Hessels ◽

Peter van der Zwan

Keyword(s):

Experimental Evidence ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Self Employment

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Job Mission as a Substitute for Monetary Incentives: Experimental Evidence

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.2516368 ◽

2014 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Lea Cassar

Keyword(s):

Experimental Evidence ◽

Monetary Incentives

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Research note: A prenotice greeting card’s impact on response rates and response time

Longitudinal and Life Course Studies ◽

10.1332/175795919x15683587984841 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 421-432

Author(s):

Ashley K. Griggs ◽

Rebecca J. Powell ◽

Jennifer Keeney ◽

Megan Waggy ◽

Kathleen Mullan Harris ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Longitudinal Study ◽

Data Collection ◽

Longitudinal Studies ◽

Best Practice ◽

Response Times ◽

Response Rates ◽

Monetary Incentives ◽

Future Expectations ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Study Participants

Maintaining high response rates over time is critical for the integrity of longitudinal studies. A best practice for encouraging survey participation in cross-sectional studies is to send sample members a pre-incentive with the survey invitation. However, in longitudinal studies this may change sample members’ future expectations of incentives. Instead researchers can use a prenotice to remind longitudinal sample members of the study and inform them of the upcoming wave. A unique greeting card format for a prenotice was experimentally tested against a $10 pre-incentive in the longitudinal study Add Health. The prenotice card, which thanked sample members for their ongoing contributions to the study over the last 20-plus years, significantly increased response rates and decreased survey response times over the 12-month course of data collection compared to the control. At the end of data collection, the prenotice card was equally effective as a $10 pre-incentive. However, in the first month of data collection, the combination of the prenotice card and pre-incentive was the most effective approach, suggesting that the best approach may depend on the planned duration of data collection. Additionally, sample members who did not participate in a previous wave had higher response rates this wave with the pre-incentive compared to the control. The findings suggest that long-term longitudinal study participants may evaluate researchers’ gratitude as a type of benefit on par with monetary incentives, offering researchers opportunities to reduce incentive costs, but this may differ based on previous wave participation.

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The Use and Effects of Incentives in Surveys

The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science ◽

10.1177/0002716212458082 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 645 (1) ◽

pp. 112-141 ◽

Cited By ~ 163

Author(s):

Eleanor Singer ◽

Cong Ye

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Cost Effectiveness ◽

Survey Methodology ◽

Special Section ◽

Monetary Incentives ◽

Web Surveys ◽

Theoretical Justification ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Survey Incentives ◽

Nonresponse Error

This article is intended to supplement rather than replace earlier reviews of research on survey incentives, especially those by Singer (2002); Singer and Kulka (2002); and Cantor, O’Hare, and O’Connor (2008). It is based on a systematic review of articles appearing since 2002 in major journals, supplemented by searches of the Proceedings of the American Statistical Association’s Section on Survey Methodology for unpublished papers. The article begins by drawing on responses to open-ended questions about why people are willing to participate in a hypothetical survey. It then lays out the theoretical justification for using monetary incentives and the conditions under which they are hypothesized to be particularly effective. Finally, it summarizes research on how incentives affect response rates in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies and, to the extent information is available, how they affect response quality, nonresponse error, and cost-effectiveness. A special section on incentives in Web surveys is included.

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