Abstract

This paper conducts a study of responses of a web-based survey of opinion contributors to Amazon.com to explore contextual characteristics of the responses. These include the early versus cumulative response rates, best times to receive a survey request, best times to broadcast a survey request, coordination of the delays before response for different broadcast times. The survey is broadcasted every hour over a 24 hour period to account for respondents differing time zones. This research therefore purports to answer the questions that are often significant to quantitative researchers who need to optimize their data collection based on their needs. For instance: When do most respondents respond? How long do they wait before doing so? What would be the best time to send out a survey so that the email does not get deprioritized for later? Does this time differ for the highest cumulative response rate?

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An Exploration of Timing of Online Surveys on Response Characteristics

This paper conducts a study of responses of a web-based survey of opinion contributors to Amazon.com to explore contextual characteristics of the responses. These include the early versus cumulative response rates, best times to receive a survey request, best times to broadcast a survey request, coordination of the delays before response for different broadcast times. The survey is broadcasted every hour over a 24 hour period to account for respondents differing time zones. This research therefore purports to answer the questions that are often significant to quantitative researchers who need to optimize their data collection based on their needs. For instance: When do most respondents respond? How long do they wait before doing so? What would be the best time to send out a survey so that the email does not get deprioritized for later? Does this time differ for the highest cumulative response rate?