Bmc Med Res Methodol
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Bmc Med Res Methodol · Sep 2011
Randomized Controlled TrialA randomised trial and economic evaluation of the effect of response mode on response rate, response bias, and item non-response in a survey of doctors.
Surveys of doctors are an important data collection method in health services research. Ways to improve response rates, minimise survey response bias and item non-response, within a given budget, have not previously been addressed in the same study. The aim of this paper is to compare the effects and costs of three different modes of survey administration in a national survey of doctors. ⋯ Decisions on which survey mode to use depend on response rates, response bias, item non-response and costs. The sequential mixed mode appears to be the most cost-effective mode of survey administration for surveys of the population of doctors, if one is prepared to accept a degree of response bias. Online surveys are not yet suitable to be used exclusively for surveys of the doctor population.