Abstract
This paper identifies and discusses ethical issues associated with the increasingly common use of multiple reminders in postal survey research. When undertaking postal surveys, it is common to improve response rates by contacting survey recipients multiple times encouraging them to complete the questionnaire. The ethical implications of the use of multiple reminders are rarely discussed in the literature advocating their use. The paper briefly the arguments encouraging use of multiple reminders, and identifies and discusses the potential ethical issues raised by their use in postal surveys. A set of principles is then proposed for using multiple reminders in an ethically responsible way. It is argued that by following these principles, the use of multiple reminders should present no increased potential for harassment or coercion of survey recipients compared to alternative survey techniques. The use of these principles in a recent postal survey is then presented and discussed; a 60% response rate was achieved utilising multiple survey reminders in a way consistent with this set of principles.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 125-139 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Journal of Academic Ethics |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Nov 2009 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Ethical issues in the use of multiple survey reminders. / Schirmer, Jacki.
In: Journal of Academic Ethics, Vol. 7, No. 1, 11.2009, p. 125-139.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Ethical issues in the use of multiple survey reminders
AU - Schirmer, Jacki
PY - 2009/11
Y1 - 2009/11
N2 - This paper identifies and discusses ethical issues associated with the increasingly common use of multiple reminders in postal survey research. When undertaking postal surveys, it is common to improve response rates by contacting survey recipients multiple times encouraging them to complete the questionnaire. The ethical implications of the use of multiple reminders are rarely discussed in the literature advocating their use. The paper briefly the arguments encouraging use of multiple reminders, and identifies and discusses the potential ethical issues raised by their use in postal surveys. A set of principles is then proposed for using multiple reminders in an ethically responsible way. It is argued that by following these principles, the use of multiple reminders should present no increased potential for harassment or coercion of survey recipients compared to alternative survey techniques. The use of these principles in a recent postal survey is then presented and discussed; a 60% response rate was achieved utilising multiple survey reminders in a way consistent with this set of principles.
AB - This paper identifies and discusses ethical issues associated with the increasingly common use of multiple reminders in postal survey research. When undertaking postal surveys, it is common to improve response rates by contacting survey recipients multiple times encouraging them to complete the questionnaire. The ethical implications of the use of multiple reminders are rarely discussed in the literature advocating their use. The paper briefly the arguments encouraging use of multiple reminders, and identifies and discusses the potential ethical issues raised by their use in postal surveys. A set of principles is then proposed for using multiple reminders in an ethically responsible way. It is argued that by following these principles, the use of multiple reminders should present no increased potential for harassment or coercion of survey recipients compared to alternative survey techniques. The use of these principles in a recent postal survey is then presented and discussed; a 60% response rate was achieved utilising multiple survey reminders in a way consistent with this set of principles.
KW - Coercion
KW - Ethics
KW - Harassment
KW - Postal surveys
KW - Reminders
KW - Response rates
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=70949083532&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10805-009-9072-5
DO - 10.1007/s10805-009-9072-5
M3 - Review article
VL - 7
SP - 125
EP - 139
JO - Journal of Academic Ethics
JF - Journal of Academic Ethics
SN - 1570-1727
IS - 1
ER -