Examining Variation in Survey Costs Across Surveys

Abstract

Self-administered surveys may be administered with a single mode or mixed data collection modes. How mixing modes of data collection affects survey costs is not well understood. We examine whether cost structures differ for mail-only versus web+mail mixed-mode surveys, what design features are associated with costs, and whether survey costs are associated with response rates. Using administrative survey cost data from two academic survey centers, we find that survey costs per sampled unit and per complete vary substantially across individual surveys. The average cost per sampled unit is surprisingly similar across mail-only and web+mail surveys. How the budget is allocated across printing, postage, incentive, and staff time varies across these designs: printing and postage costs are higher in mail-only surveys, and more of the budget is allocated to incentive costs and project management costs in web+mail surveys. Furthermore, higher cost surveys are associated with higher response rates, particularly for incentive costs.