Recently, we conducted a survey among SMEs in the Tees Valley region of England, in which we experienced a considerably low response rate from SME managers, supervisors, and owners. This was despite the fact that the topic was not sensitive and no personally identifiable information was collected from SMSs. This motivates us to look for ways to improve SME response rate, and hence this question?
I know the response rate may vary depending on several factors, including the research topic, time, medium etc. But still I would like to invite colleagues to contribute further and help us build a better understanding around this issue.
Thankin in advance!
Mudassar Hasan I would be interested to know what the survey was about. I am relatively local to the area you talk about and have started and run several SME's. My initial observation would be that response will always be conditional on the interest/value perceived by the respondent. Happy to discuss by Messaging if useful.
I believe it is better to organize a get-together so that that you prepare some snacks before the survey. Most SMEs are so very much busy and they think any disruptions result in a loss.
David Atkinson, we aimed at assessing the barriers to SME's energy efficiency orientation. Yes, indeed it did seem to depend on the value perceived by the respondents.
Thank you for offering your assistance. I will get in touch with you soon.
Nicholette N. Mutenda, thank you for your suggestion. But in many cases, it won't be possible for two reasons. One, since SME owners/managers are normally very busy, they are less likely to join the get-together. And secondly, organizing a get-together may be costly, especially when there are a large number of respondents. But it can certainly be possible and affordable for a small number of approachable respondents.
David Atkinson, interestingly, our response rates varied considerably based on age and ethnicity.
Mudassar Hasan, is that due to the channels you used to communicate with your respondents? (In that some ages/ethnicities might prefer certain means of communication over others?)
@mudassar Hasan, I believe the response rate is determined by what SMEs believe they stand to benefit from.
I realized this when we surveyed the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN). Most SME owners were more positive towards the section that asked them about the financial support they needed.
Interview with Unstructured Questionnaire and direct approach will definitely yield result
I think an emotional approach is needed, so that SMEs feel that researchers are good discussion partners
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Social Psychology
- Attitude