The Key to High Survey Response Rates Revealed

In a poster, entitled “Strategies for Achieving High Response Rates in a Web Based National Survey: Care for patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI),” recently presented at the American Heart Association:  Quality of Care and Outcomes Research in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke 2011 Scientific Sessions meeting in Washington, D.C., Yale researchers outlined key factors that influence the response rates of organizational surveys.

According to the Yale team, there are six key factors that helped produce such a high (91%) response rate: procedure, contacts collaboration, tailoring, relationships, and motivation. “The key to good survey research is a high response rate, but the challenge is no one wants to complete surveys.  And, it’s especially hard to get busy senior hospital executives to reply to survey questions,” explains Marcia Mulligan, program coordinator at the Yale Global Health Leadership Institute and lead author on the study. For this survey the researchers kept their approach clear and succinct. Using pre-notify mail invitations and automated web servers they were able to reach a large sample as well as multiple contacts at hospitals. During the communications with potential participants the researchers tried to have a connection with them through personal messages and one-on-one conversations as a way to increase response rates.

Leslie Curry, Ph.D., research scientist at the Yale Global Health Leadership Institute,  “A 91% return rate is extremely rare and this higher rate contributes to stronger science. The experience and techniques of the GHLI Yale team is the secret to our success with survey participants.”

For further information on GHLI AMI-related research click here

Nina Gumkowski, GHLI Intern

Why We Do What We Do: Leslie Curry

Leslie Curry, a research scientist at the Yale Global Health Leadership Institute, offers “great excitement” and a, “real commitment to be involved” to GHLI. As she says, “There is never a dull moment!”

In recent months, Curry has been quite busy -- her research that uncovered why acute myocardial infarction mortality rates vary across hospitals was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine unleashing a flurry of media attention. “This [media coverage] is the best we can hope for as researchers -- to catch the attention of the people who can use our evidence to actually make a difference in the quality of health care.”

Curry and Betsy Bradley, faculty director of the GHLI, have been collaborating on key global health research for nearly 20 years. Together, they focus on research and teaching in health care delivery and quality improvement in the U.S. Betsy's project with the hospital management initiative in Ethiopia exposed Curry first hand to positive global health programming and sparked Curry to get more involved in the global health realm.

“The more I became involved in global health issues, the more I wanted to contribute to research and teaching in international settings,” says Curry. “I have always had a strong interest in applied policy research and program evaluation, primarily in the U.S, and felt that these skills might be useful in other settings.”

Bradley and Curry are currently working on a project with other Yale faculty from diverse backgrounds that focuses on integrating insights from military action and management of states to global health. This project has already generated a positive student response, a vital component to GHLI’s success.

“I feel incredibly lucky to be able to contribute in some small way to the mission of GHLI,” adds Curry. “I am constantly learning from the amazing GHLI team around me.”

Amanda Sorrentino, GHLI Intern