Understanding Response Rate vs. Completion Rate: What’s the Difference?

When conducting a social science survey—whether for research, campus climate studies, or feedback initiatives—two key metrics that help measure its success are response rate and completion rate. While both are crucial to understanding how well the survey performed, they represent different aspects of the data collection process and can significantly affect the quality of the data gathered.

This article will explain the difference between response rate and completion rate, why each matters, and how both can impact the overall data quality of your survey.

What is a Response Rate?

Response rate refers to the proportion of people who responded to your survey out of the total number eligible to participate. This is typically calculated as:

Response Rate (%) = (Number of Responses ÷ Number of Eligible Participants) × 100

For example, if you sent out 1,000 survey invitations and 400 people responded, your response rate would be 40%.

According to the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), response rates are an essential benchmark for understanding how representative your response population is. Higher response rates typically indicate that the survey reached and engaged a broader segment of your intended audience. 

However, a higher response rate does not always mean higher quality. To truly interpret the response rate for a given study, you must also understand what the likely difference is between those who responded and those who did not. Response rates may be an indication of quality if the differences between respondents and nonrespondents is reduced as response rates increase. 

A low response rate can indicate quality problems. When fewer people respond, the risk increases that your sample may not accurately represent the full population. Certain groups might be underrepresented, leading to biased results. In campus surveys, for instance, this could mean that students who feel disconnected from campus life might be less likely to respond, which could skew the findings and affect the survey’s external validity.

What is a Completion Rate?

A completion rate measures how many people finish the survey once they’ve started it. It’s calculated as:

Completion Rate (%) = (Number of Completed Surveys ÷ Number of Started Surveys) × 100

If 400 people start the survey, but only 300 finish it, your completion rate would be 75%. AAPOR recommends that a survey be considered “completed” when 80-100% of key questions have been answered. However, the break between a “partial” and a “complete” response may vary and should be determined purposefully. 

A high completion rate signals that respondents found the survey clear, relevant, and manageable. A high completion rate typically means fewer instances of item nonresponse, where some questions are left unanswered. High completion rates are particularly important in surveys where comprehensive data is necessary to understand the full scope of the issue, such as in campus climate or student experience surveys.

A low completion rate might indicate that respondents found the survey too long, confusing, or difficult to complete. This can lead to breakoffs, where respondents start but do not finish the survey, creating nonrandom missing data. In a survey of campus climate, for example, if respondents abandon the survey halfway through, it could lead to incomplete data on key topics such as inclusion or safety, affecting the survey’s internal validity and the reliability of the conclusions drawn from the data.

At SoundRocket, we like to see completion rates that are greater than 80%.  Completion rates greater than 90% are excellent and are considered to be generally above average.

Practical Tips for Improving Response and Completion Rates

Improving both response rate and completion rate is critical to ensuring high-quality survey results. Here are some strategies to help:

• Use Survey Design Best Practices: Break the survey into manageable sections, make use of progress bars, and avoid asking too many open-ended questions to maintain engagement.
• Keep Surveys Concise and Clear: Ensure the survey is easy to follow and doesn’t take too long to complete. Surveys that are overly complex or lengthy often result in low completion rates.
• Pretest Your Survey: Test your survey on a small, representative sample before rolling it out. This helps identify any confusing or overly burdensome questions that could lead to drop-offs.
• Personalize Invitations and Send Reminders: Personalizing invitations and sending follow-up reminders can boost response rates. Use multiple channels, such as email, phone, or SMS, to reach a wider audience.
• Incentivize Participation: Offering an incentive can motivate more people to respond and complete the survey. Make sure the incentive is appropriate for the context, such as offering a gift card or entry into a raffle.

Conclusion

Both response rate and completion rate are essential indicators of data quality in social science surveys. A high response rate ensures that your sample is representative of your population, while a high completion rate ensures that the data collected is thorough and reliable. Monitoring and improving both metrics is key to obtaining actionable insights from your survey.

Whether you’re conducting a campus climate survey or another form of social science research, understanding and optimizing these metrics will help ensure that the data collected is accurate, complete, and meaningful. By following best practices and adhering to AAPOR standards, you can be confident in the quality of the data your survey produces.