Could we start to capture the response motivation or motivations that play a role in causing responses so that we may use them in interpreting the data?
Most agree that people have numerous motivations to participate in research. In a recent article, Florian Keusch thoroughly details the various reasons why people participate in web surveys. It is clear that there is no single response motivation — societal characteristics, individual characteristics, and survey characteristics all play a role. But like most strong literature reviews do, it left me with this…
I wonder if we could start to capture the response motivation(s) that play a role in causing respondents to respond so that we may use them in interpreting the data?
OK, I know, that’s a big one. Let me get a bit more specific with this three-part Research Wonder:
I wonder…
If an appreciation for the contribution(s) that scientific studies make towards a society is a characteristic that may influence one’s decision to participate in a survey.
And I wonder…
If we could capture this phenomenon by inviting respondents to follow through with an action (post-survey) that shows their interest in the survey results, for example, suggesting that a respondent could “like” a research study Facebook page or send an email to the study investigator if they are interested in seeing study results when they are available.
And I also wonder…
If this response motivation has an impact on WHO responds, and HOW they respond to the survey.
What’s a Research Wonder? Read this to find out…