Exploratory diary study of survey request frequency among research professionals

The survey commons is a global common-pool resource that consists of all populations of potential survey participants that researchers share. As survey research methodology and technology advances, the survey commons has become more accessible and used by an ever-growing variety of professional and non-professional researchers, which creates a climate for potential survey participants of seemingly constant requests to complete various types of questionnaires. Among other factors, the frequency of survey requests likely influences burden, fatigue, and data quality. Yet, few studies have explored the frequency and characteristics of survey requests. In contribution to this growing research area, we conducted an exploratory diary study of survey requests among research professionals for a 1-month period. Participants tracked survey request dates, contact mode, response mode, title, sponsor, host, and completion progress. We observed participants receive a survey request every other day, on average, but only fully completed one-quarter of requests. Marketing surveys were the primary request source, the main contact mode was email, and the main response mode was web-based. While marketing surveys were the most frequently experienced by participants, they also had the lowest completion rate; administrative and academic survey requests had the highest completion rate. Overall, our exploratory diary study told an intriguing story of the quantity and characteristics of survey requests among a select population and adds to growing interests in survey request inquiry.