Advance Contact

Advance contact is any communication to a sampled respondent prior to requesting cooperation and/or presenting the respondent with the actual survey task in order to raise the likelihood (i.e. increase the response propensity) of the potential respondent cooperating with the survey. As explained by Leverage-Saliency Theory, a respondent's decision to participate in research is influenced by several factors, including his or her knowledge of and interest in the survey research topic and/or the survey's sponsor. A researcher can improve the likelihood of a respondent agreeing to participate through efforts to better inform the respondent about the research topic and sponsor through the use of advance contact. Factors in considering the use of advance contacts are (a) the goals of the advance contact and (b) the ...