Attachment A_Review of Prompt Wording Research

OMB Control Number: 1220-0141

Expiration Date: 03/31/2021

Attachment A

Review of research using different web probes to decrease item nonresponse in online surveys

Article and link (if available)	Probe wording	Main finding
Baghal and Lynn (2015)	If possible, please provide an answer to this question, as this is one of the key questions in this study. Please be assured that the information you give us will be treated confidentially. These questions are important to researchers and we would be grateful if you could try your best to answer them.	Findings show that a motivational statement following immediately after an item is left unanswered greatly outperforms either the control or a motivational statement at a later point in the survey. Using this immediate reactive prompt reduces item nonresponse to levels equivalent to a face-to-face version. Conversely, the control (no statement) and later placed motivational statement lead to significantly greater item nonresponse.
Derouvray and Couper (2002)	We would very much like to have your answer to this question. If you would like to choose one of the proposed answers, please select “Back.”	The implicit DK option with a prompt if the item is not answered yielded the most complete data (versus including a ‘decline to respond’ option)
Israel (2013)	It is very important for you to give answers to all of the following questions so that we can determine how different groups of clients feel about our services. Please answer all of the questions below.	Did not find the prompt was effective in reducing item nonresponse
Wine et al. (2006)	Your answers are very important to the success of this study. You may use the back button at the bottom of each page to back up and answer questions that were left blank.	Had to change their main mode from telephone to web surveys and used existing interviewer texts from previous telephone studies to write a polite, system-generated message to motivate and probe the respondent for more information. This technique was effective.
de Leeuw et al. (2015)	Thank you, we have recorded your answer. Perhaps you can express a preference for either yes or no? That would help us very much. The question was <repeat question stem plus> ‘I am inclined to say yes’, ‘I am inclined to say no’, ‘I really do not know’	Not offering DK, but allowing respondents to skip questions, followed by a polite probe when skips occurred, resulted in the lowest amount of missing information. To assess the effect of probing across different modes, a second experiment was carried out that compared explicitly and implicitly offering the DK option for web and telephone surveys. Using a polite probe after each DK response reduced the final amount of DK answers in both the telephone and online survey.
Kaplan and Yu (2020)	Probes that interviewers reported using: Your best guess is fine We are not looking for a precise value, just a category Your response is helpful We understand this question might make you uncomfortable… I am sorry we have to ask this, but… We are required to ask this question… This survey is important because… There are all different kinds of households these days… The survey is for statistical purposes only and completely confidential. There is a $250,000 fine for violating confidentiality…	Interviewers self-reported that they find these types of probes helpful in gaining response.

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