Journal Article

Does usage of monetary incentive impact the involvement in surveys? A systematic review and meta-analysis of 46 randomized controlled trials

Mostafa, Mostafa Reda, Rizk, Marwa Abdelazim, Abdelazeem, Basel, Eltobgy, Mostafa, Abbas, Kirellos Said, El-Shahat, Nahla Ahmed, Hamdallah, Aboalmagd, Manasrah, Nouraldeen

2023

Overview

Surveys are an effective method for collecting a large quantity of data. However, incomplete responses to these surveys can affect the validity of the studies and introduce bias. Recent studies have suggested that monetary incentives may increase survey response rates. We intended to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the effect of monetary incentives on survey participation. A systematic search of electronic databases was conducted to collect studies assessing the impact of monetary incentives on survey participation. The primary outcome of interest was the response rates to incentives: money, lottery, and voucher. We used the Cochrane Collaboration tool to assess the risk of bias in randomized trials. We calculated the rate ratio (RR) with its 95% confidence interval (95% CI) using Review Manager Software (version 5.3). We used random-effects analysis and considered the data statistically significant with a P-value <0.05. Forty-six RCTs were included. A total of 109,648 participants from 14 countries were involved. The mean age of participants ranged from 15 to more than 60 years, with 27.5% being males, 16.7% being females, and the other 55.8% not reported. Our analysis showed a significant increase in response rate in the incentive group compared to the control group, irrespective of the incentive methods. Money was the most efficient way to increase the response rate (RR: 1.25; 95% CI: 1.16,1.35; P = < 0.00001) compared to voucher (RR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.08,1.31; P = < 0.0005) and lottery (RR: 1.12; 95% CI: 1.03,1.22; P = < 0.009). Monetary incentives encourage the response rate in surveys. Money was more effective than vouchers or lotteries. Therefore, researchers may include money as an incentive to improve the response rate while conducting surveys.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Adolescent / Analysis / Bias / Clinical trials / Confidence intervals / Economic incentives / Female / Health surveys / Humans / Incentives / Internet access / Lotteries / Male / Medicine and Health Sciences / Meta-analysis / Monetary incentives / Motivation / People and Places / Physical Sciences / Polls & surveys / Psychological aspects / Questionnaires / Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Research and Analysis Methods / Research Personnel / Response rates / Reviews / Risk assessment / Statistical analysis / Surveys / Surveys and Questionnaires / Systematic review / Vouchers