Pre-Survey Text Messages (SMS) Improve Participation Rate in an Australian Mobile Telephone Survey: An Experimental Study

PLoS One. 2016 Feb 26;11(2):e0150231. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0150231. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Mobile telephone numbers are increasingly being included in household surveys samples. As approach letters cannot be sent because many do not have address details, alternatives approaches have been considered. This study assesses the effectiveness of sending a short message service (SMS) to a random sample of mobile telephone numbers to increase response rates. A simple random sample of 9000 Australian mobile telephone numbers: 4500 were randomly assigned to be sent a pre-notification SMS, and the remaining 4500 did not have a SMS sent. Adults aged 18 years and over, and currently in paid employment, were eligible to participate. American Association for Public Opinion Research formulas were used to calculated response cooperation and refusal rates. Response and cooperation rate were higher for the SMS groups (12.4% and 28.6% respectively) than the group with no SMS (7.7% and 16.0%). Refusal rates were lower for the SMS group (27.3%) than the group with no SMS (35.9%). When asked, 85.8% of the pre-notification group indicated they remembered receiving a SMS about the study. Sending a pre-notification SMS is effective in improving participation in population-based surveys. Response rates were increased by 60% and cooperation rates by 79%.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Australia
  • Cell Phone*
  • Community Participation* / psychology
  • Cooperative Behavior
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Refusal to Participate / psychology
  • Refusal to Participate / statistics & numerical data
  • Sampling Studies
  • Surveys and Questionnaires*
  • Text Messaging*
  • Workplace

Grants and funding

The project is supported by an ARC Discovery grant, an ARC Linkage grant, funding from Safe Work Australia and SafeWork SA, and involves the collaboration of industry experts and academics from across Australia and international institutions. The opinions expressed in this work are those of the authors and may not represent the position or policy of Safe work Australia or SafeWork SA. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.