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Research article
First published online October 15, 2008

Survey Response Rates and Survey Administration in Counseling and Clinical Psychology: A Meta-Analysis

Pamela S. Van Horn, Kathy E. Green, and Monica MartinussenView all authors and affiliations
Volume 69, Issue 3
https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164408324462

Abstract

This article reports results of a meta-analysis of survey response rates in published research in counseling and clinical psychology over a 20-year span and describes reported survey administration procedures in those fields. Results of 308 survey administrations showed a weighted average response rate of 49.6%. Among possible moderators, response rates differed only by population sampled, journal in which articles were published, sampling source and method, and use of follow-up. Researchers whose studies were included in this meta-analysis used follow-up but rarely used incentives, prenotification, or other response-facilitation methods to maximize response rates. Although the future of survey research in general may rely more heavily on Internet data collection, mail surveys dominate in this field.

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Published In

Volume 69, Issue 3
Pages: 389 - 403
Article first published online: October 15, 2008
Issue published: June 2009

Keywords

  1. counseling psychology
  2. survey research
  3. response rates
  4. meta-analysis

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Authors

Affiliations

Pamela S. Van Horn
University of Denver
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Kathy E. Green
University of Denver
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Monica Martinussen
University of Tromsø, Norway
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