The Impact of Greeting Personalization on Prevalence Estimates in a Survey of Sexual Assault Victimization

• NCJ Number: 252662
• Journal: Public Opinion Quarterly Volume: 82 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2018 Pages: 366-378
• Author(s): Ashley K. Griggs; Marcus E. Berzofsky; Bonnie E. Shook-Sa; Christine H. Lindquist; Kimberly P. Enders; Christopher P. Krebs; Michael Planty; Lynn Langton
• Date Published: May 2018
• Length: 13 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2011-NV-CX-K068
• Sponsoring Agency: Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Although personalized invitations tend to increase response rates in web surveys, little is known about how personalization impacts data quality, so the current study experimentally compared the impact of personalization on survey estimates of sensitive items, the effects of personalized and generic greetings in a survey (n = 9,673) on an extremely sensitive topicsexual assault victimization.

Abstract

The study found that personalization increased response rates, with negligible impact on victimization reporting; and this impact was similar across most demographic groups. These findings suggest that future studies may benefit from the use of a personalized greeting when recruiting sample members to participate in a sensitive survey; however, further research is necessary to better understand how the impact of personalization on reporting may differ across some demographic groups. (publisher abstract modified)