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Response Rate in Academic Studies — A Comparative Analysis

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Human Relations

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.

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Baruch, Y. Response Rate in Academic Studies — A Comparative Analysis. Human Relations 52, 421–438 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016905407491

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