Abstract
A study was conducted to explore what could andshould be a reasonable response rate in academicstudies. One hundred and forty-one papers which included175 different studies were examined. They were published in the Academy of Management Journal, HumanRelations, Journal of Applied Psychology, OrganizationalBehavior and Human Decision Processes , and Journal ofInternational Business Studies in the years 1975, 1985, and 1995, covering about 200,000respondents. The average response rate was 55.6 with astandard deviation of 19.7. Variations among thejournals such as the year of publication and othervariables were discussed. Most notable is the declinethrough the years (average 48.4, standard deviation of20.1, in 1995), the lower level found in studiesinvolving top management or organizationalrepresentatives (average 36.1, standard deviation of 13.3), andthe predominance of North American studies. It issuggested that the average and standard deviation foundin this study should be used as a norm for future studies, bearing in mind the specific referencegroup. It is also recommended that a distinction is madebetween surveys directed at individual participants andthose targeting organizationalrepresentatives.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
ANDERSON J. F., & BERDIE D. R. Effects on response rates of formal and informal questionnaire follow up techniques. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1975, 60(2), 255–257.
BABBIE E. Survey research methods, Belmont CA: Wadsworth.
BRASS D. J. (1985) Technology and the structure of jobs: Employee satisfaction, performance, and influence. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1985, 2, 216–240.
BARUCH, Y. The ethics of social research in organizations. Business Ethics-A European Review, 1993, 2(4), 233–237.
BARUCH Y. Leadership, is that what we study. Journal of Leadership Studies, 1998, 5(1), 100–124.
BARUCH, Y., & LEEMING, A. The Quest for MBA curriculum, Journal of Managerial Development, 1996, 15(7), 27–36.
BENTON, A. L. Inventories vocational interests of cartograhers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1975, 60(1), 150–153.
BINER, P. M., & KIDD, H. J. The interactive effects of monetary incentive justification and questionnaire length on mail survey response rate. Psychology & Marketing, 1994, 11(5), 483–492.
BOGG, J., & COOPER, C. Job satisfaction, mental health, and occupational stress among senior civil servants. Human Relations, 1995, 48(3), 327–341.
BROSNAN, P. The ability to predict workers' preferences: Further evidence. Human Relations, 1975, 28(6), 519–541.
BROWN, A., & WRIGHT, M. Perceptions of the quality of management journal. A discussion paper, School of Management & Finance, The University of Nottingham, 1995.
BRYMAN, A. Research methods and organization studies. London: Unwin Hyman, 1989.
CAPLAN, R. D., & JONES, K.W. Effects of work load, role ambiguity, and type A personality on anxiety, depression, and heart rate. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1975, 60(6), 713–719.
CHIA, Y.-M. The interaction effect of information asymmetry and decentralization on managers' job satisfaction: A research note. Human Relations, 1995, 48(6), 609–624.
COOPER, C. L., & PAYNE, R. Causes, coping and consequences of stress at work. Chichester: Wiley, 1988.
DENISON, D. R., & MISHRA, A. K. Toward a theory of organizational culture and effectiveness. Organization Science, 1995, 6(2), 204–223.
DILLMAN, D. A. Mail and telephone surveys. New York: J. Wiley & Sons, 1978.
FENTON-O'CREEVY, M. Employees Involvement and the Middle Manager. Unpublished dissertation, London Business School, 1996.
FULLER, C. Effect of anonymity on return rate and response bias in a mail survey. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1974, 59(3), 292–296.
GALLUP, G. The quintamensional plan of questionnaire design. Public Opinion Quarterly, 1947, 11, 385–393.
GENDALL, P., HOEK, J., & ESSLEMONT, D. The effect of appeal, complexity and tone in a mail survey covering letter. Journal of Marketing Society, 1995, 37(3), 251–258.
GLASS, G. V., MCGAW, B., & SMITH, M. L. Meta-analysis in social research. London: Sage, 1981.
GOODALE, J. G., & AAGAARD, A. K. Factors relating to varying reactions to the 4–day workweek. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1975, 60(1), 33–38.
GRIFFEITH, R. W., HOM, P. W., DeNISI, A. S., & KIRCHNER W. K. A comparison of different methods of clustering countries on the basis of employee attitudes. Human Relations, 1985, 38(9), 813–840.
HAGGETT, S., & MITCHELL, V. W. Effects of industrial prenotification on response rate, speed, quality, bias and cost. Industrial Marketing Management, 1994, 23(2), 101–110.
HEBERLEIN, T. A., & BAUMGARTNER, R. Factors affecting response rates to mailed questionnaires: A quantitative analysis of the published literature. American Sociological Review, 1978, 43(4), 447–462.
HENDERSON, D. A. The Influence of Corporale Strategy, Structure and Technology on Location of Procurement and Sales. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan, 1990.
HERRIOT, P., & PEMBERTON, C. New deals, Chichester: Wiley, 1995.
HINOMOTO, H. Education in information systems: What does industry expect from the university? Academy of Management Journal, 1975, 18(2), 402–407.
HINRICHS, J. R. Effects of sampling, follow-up letters, and commitment to participation on mail attitude survey response. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1975, 60(2), 249–251.
IZRAELI, D. Sex differences in self-reported influence among union officers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1985, 70(1), 148–156.
JIMS. Quality ranking of journals in management and social science. The Judge Institute of Management Studies: University of Cambridge, 1994.
JANKOWICZ, A. D. Business research projects. London: Chapman & Hall, 1991.
KALLIS, M. B., & GILIERANO, J. J. Improving mail response rate with express mail. International Marketing Management, 1992, 21(1), 1–4.
KELSALL, R. K., POOLE, A., & KUHN, A. The questionnaire in a sociological research project. The British Journal of Sociology, 1972, 23(3), 344–357.
KLINE, P. The handbook of psychological testing. London: Routledge, 1993.
LORD, R. G., De-VADER, C. L., & ALLIGER, G. M. A meta analysis of relation between personality traits and leadership perceptions: An application of validity generalisation procedures. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1986, 71(3), 402410.
MACEK, A. J., & MILES, G. H. IQ score and mailed questionnaire response. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1975, 60(2), 258–259.
MacRAE, S. Models and methods for the behavioural sciences. Leicester: BPS, 1994.
MARQUIS, K. H. Survey Response Rates: Some Trends, Causes and Correlates. Paper presented in the Biennial Conference on Health Survey Research Methods, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1977.
MATSUI, T., & TERAI, T. A cross-cultural study of the validity of the expectancy theory of work motivation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1975, 60(2), 263–265.
NUNNALLY, J. O. Psychometric theory. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978.
OTT, L. An introduction to statistical methods and data analysis (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: PWSKent, 1988.
PIERCE, B., & GARVEN, G. Publishing international business research: A survey of leading journals. Journal of International Business Studies, 1995, 36(1), 69–89.
PAYNE, S. The art of asking questions. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1951.
PEIPERL, M. A., & BARUCH, Y. Models of careers: Back to square zero. Organizational Dynamics, 1997, 25(4), 7–22.
SHANKS-MEILE, S. L., & DOBRATZ, B. A. Blindness rehabilitation agencies and organizational environments. Human Relations, 1995, 48(1), 57–72.
SHETH, J. N., & ROSCOE, A. M. Impact of questionnaire length, follow up methods, and geographical location on response rate to a mail survey. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1975, 60(2), 252–254.
SINGER, E., & PRESSER S. (Eds.). Survey research methods. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1989.
STEEH, C. G. Trends in nonresponse rates, 1952–1979. In E. SINGER and S. PRESSER (Eds.), Survey research methods. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1989.
SYLVIA, R. D., & HUTCHISON, T. What makes Ms. Johnson teach? A study of teacher motivation. Human Relations, 1985, 38(9), 841–856.
SZILAGYI, A. D., & SIMS, H. P. Locus of control and expectations across multiple occupational levels. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1975, 60(5), 638–640.
THISTLETHWAITE, P. C., & FINLAY, J. The impact of selected mail response enhancement techniques on surveys of the mature market: Some new evidence. Journal of Professional Services Marketing, 1993, 8(2), 269–276.
WATANABE, S., & YAMAGUCHI, R. Intercultral perceptions at the workplace: The case of the British subsidiaries of Japanese firms. Human Relations, 1995, 48(5), 581–607.
WEBSTER, J., & TREVINO, L. K. Rational and social theories as complementary explanations of communication media choices: Two policy-capturing studies. Academy of Management Journal, 1995, 38(6), 1544–1572.
YUCHTMAN-YAAR, E., & GOTTLIEB, A. Technological development and the meaning of work: A cross-cultural perspective. Human Relations, 1985, 38(7), 603–621.
YOUNGMAN, M. B., & BRENDON, M. Designing and analysing questionnaires. Oxford: TRC-Rediguides, 1982.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Baruch, Y. Response Rate in Academic Studies — A Comparative Analysis. Human Relations 52, 421–438 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016905407491
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016905407491