NCSES and NCES Inventory of Incentives

APPENDIX J NCSES and NCES Inventory of Incentives Incentive usage for NCSES and NCES Surveys.
Agency	Survey	Incentive type (debit, cash, check)	Pre or Postpaid	Amount	When offered	Incentivized Target Population	Total sample size	Number of cases incentivized	Percent of incentivized cases that completed screener/survey (prepaid incentives)	Percent of incentivized nonresponding cases that cashed the incentive (prepaid, gift or debit card)	Link to, or citation for, our experimental research that led to incentive structure
NCSES	2019 National Survey of College Graduates	Debit card	Prepaid	$30	Week 1	Highly influential cases (Low response propensity; large sample weights); Previous incentive recipients	147,146	24,330	New sample members (n=13,436): 48.2% Returning sample members (n=10,894): 66.7%	4.6%	Thornton, T. (2014). 2013 National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG) incentive conditioning study. Internal report to National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. Zotti, A. (2014). Report for the 2013 National Survey of College Graduates methodological research incentive timing experiment. Internal report to National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.
NCSES	2019 Survey of Doctorate Recipients	Check	Prepaid	$30	Week 1 (previous incentive recipients); Week 2 (Recent graduates); Week 18 (Highly influential nonresponsive cases)	Previous incentive recipients; Recent graduates; Highly influential cases (i.e., have low response propensity; and are in key analytical domains)	120,000	53,197	(n=28,337) 53.3%	(n=1,761) 3.3%	Thornton, T. (2014). 2013 National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG) incentive conditioning study. Internal report to National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. Zotti, A. (2014). Report for the 2013 National Survey of College Graduates methodological research incentive timing experiment. Internal report to National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.
NCSES	2017 National Survey of College Graduates	Debit card	Prepaid	$30	Week 1	Highly influential cases (Low response propensity; large sample weights); Previous incentive recipients	123,861	16,701	New sample members (n=9,783): 51.6% Returning sample members (n=6,918): 71.1%	3.4%	Thornton, T. (2014). 2013 National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG) incentive conditioning study. Internal report to National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. Zotti, A. (2014). Report for the 2013 National Survey of College Graduates methodological research incentive timing experiment. Internal report to National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.
NCSES	2017 Survey of Doctorate Recipients	Check	Prepaid	$30	Week 1 (previous incentive recipients); Week 2 (Recent graduates); Week 18 (Highly influential nonresponsive cases)	Previous incentive recipients; Recent graduates; Highly influential cases (i.e., have low response propensity; and are in key analytical domains)	124,580	18,048	(n=15,114): 83.7%	(n=246): 1.3%	Thornton, T. (2014). 2013 National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG) incentive conditioning study. Internal report to National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. Zotti, A. (2014). Report for the 2013 National Survey of College Graduates methodological research incentive timing experiment. Internal report to National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.
NCSES	2015 National Survey of College Graduates	Debit card	Prepaid	$30	Week 1	Highly influential cases (Low response propensity; large sample weights); Previous incentive recipients	143,530	22,129	New sample members (n=8,103): 52.8% Returning sample members (n=14,026): 65.3%	4.2%	Thornton, T. (2014). 2013 National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG) incentive conditioning study. Internal report to National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. Zotti, A. (2014). Report for the 2013 National Survey of College Graduates methodological research incentive timing experiment. Internal report to National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.
NCES	2019 National Household Education Survey	Cash	Prepaid for entire sample Postpaid (conditional on web or phone response) for experimental choice-plus treatment	$5 prepaid at stage one screener; $5 or $15 prepaid at stage two $10 or $20 postpaid (depending on treatment group) for experimental choice-plus treatment	$5 prepaid with initial screener survey invitation- week 1; $5 or $15 prepaid (dependent on screener response timing) with initial stage-two survey invitation for cases requiring stage-two mailings. $10 or $20 postpaid after completion by web or phone within experimental choice-plus treatment	$5 with screener for all survey respondents; $5 or $15 with stage-two survey for all sample members who required stage-two mailings Within experimental choice-plus treatment, $10 or $20 postpaid to web or phone respondents	205,000	205,000	58%	N/A	Screener incentives: -Han et al (2013). An evaluation of incentive experiments in a two-phase address-based sample mail survey. Survey Research Methods. -Jackson et al (2016). NHES:2014 Feasibility Study Report (unpublished report to NCES). -Jackson et al (2019). Using response propensity modeling to allocate noncontingent incentives in an address-based sample: Evidence from a national experiment. Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology. Stage-two incentives: -McPhee and Hastedt (2012). https://s3.amazonaws.com/sitesusa/wp-content/uploads/sites/242/2014/05/Hastedt_2012FCSM_I-A.pdf -Han et al (2013). An evaluation of incentive experiments in a two-phase address-based sample mail survey. Survey Research Methods. -McPhee et al (2015). NHES:2012 Data File User's Manual tables 5-5 and 5-6 (https://nces.ed.gov/nhes/pdf/userman/NHES_2012_UsersManual.pdf) Choice-plus incentives: Biemer et al. (2017). Using bonus monetary incentives to encourage web response in mixed-mode household surveys. Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology.
NCES	2016 National Household Education Survey	Cash	Prepaid for entire sample	$0, $2, $5, or $10 prepaid at stage one screener; $5, $10, or $15 prepaid at stage two	$0, $2, $5, or $10 prepaid with initial screener survey invitation - week 1; $5, $10, or $15 prepaid (dependent on screener incentive and screener response timing) with initial stage-two survey invitation for cases requiring stage-two mailings	$2 with screener for all assigned to $2-only treatment; $5 with screener for all assigned to $5-only treatment; $0, $2, $5, or $10 with screener for all assigned to modeled-incentive treatment, depending on modeled response propensity; $5, $10, or $15 with stage-two survey for all sample members who required stage-two mailings	206,000	204,760	62%	N/A	Screener incentives: -Han et al (2013). An evaluation of incentive experiments in a two-phase address-based sample mail survey. Survey Research Methods. -Jackson et al (2016). NHES:2014 Feasibility Study Report (unpublished report to NCES). Stage-two incentives: -McPhee and Hastedt (2012). https://s3.amazonaws.com/sitesusa/wp-content/uploads/sites/242/2014/05/Hastedt_2012FCSM_I-A.pdf -Han et al (2013). An evaluation of incentive experiments in a two-phase address-based sample mail survey. Survey Research Methods. -McPhee et al (2015). NHES:2012 Data File User's Manual tables 5-5 and 5-6 (https://nces.ed.gov/nhes/pdf/userman/NHES_2012_UsersManual.pdf)
NCES	2018 School survey on Crime and Safety	Cash	Prepaid	$10	First mailout	Random subsample of half the sample	4,800	2,400	62%	N/A	Biemer, P. P., Ellis, C., Pitts, A., & Aspinwall, K. (2007). Do Monetary Incentives Increase Business Survey Response Rates? Results from a Large Scale Experiment. Proceedings from the Third International Conference on Establishment Surveys (ICES-III), (pp. 509-516). Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Retrieved from https://ww2.amstat.org/meetings/ices/2007/proceedings/ICES2007-000211.PDF
NCES	2012 Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002) Third Follow-up	Check	Postpaid, prepaid	$25-55 postpaid, prepaid $5	Week 4, Week 9, 8 weeks before the end of data collection	Influential cases/incentive amount determined by Mahalanobis distance score	16,300	16,300
NCES	2016 High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) Second Follow-up	Check or Paypal	Postpaid	$0-40	High School non-completers $40-60; Ultra-cooperative $0-20; Main sample $30-50	High School non-completers, Ultra-cooperatives responded in every prior round with no $ incentive, and Main sample is everyone else	23,000	23,000
NCES	ECLS-K:2023 preschool field test: Fall follow-up parent survey	Cash	Prepaid	$5	with invitation to complete follow-up round parent survey	respondents to parent survey	300	300	survey still to be conducted	NA
NCES	ECLS-K:2011 5th-grade schools	Check	Postpaid	$200	at end of data collection round	Cooperating schools from the base year and destination schools (schools to which four or more children transferred) that participated in 5th-grade were given the incentive.	830	830	NA	NA	Incentives chosen based on strategies that worked successfully in the past for the ECLS-K:2011, the ECLS-K, and other major NCES studies (High School and Beyond, the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, and the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002)
NCES	ECLS-K:2011 5th-grade school administrators	Check	Prepaid	$25	with invitation to complete survey		2,534	2,534	88%	We do not have data on who cashed/did not cash the check	Incentives chosen based on strategies that worked successfully in the past for the ECLS-K:2011, the ECLS-K, and other major NCES studies (High School and Beyond, the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, and the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002)
NCES	ECLS-K:2011 5th-grade school coordinators	Check	Prepaid	$25	with school coordinator packet at start of data collection round	SC incentive offered only to SCs at original and destination schools	830	830	SCs did not complete a survey. We don't have any records of how many cooperated.	NA	Incentives chosen based on strategies that worked successfully in the past for the ECLS-K:2011, the ECLS-K, and other major NCES studies (High School and Beyond, the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, and the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002)
NCES	ECLS-K:2011 5th-grade teachers	Check	Prepaid	$20, + $7 per each child-level survey	with invitation to complete surveys	same incentive was offered to general ed and special ed teachers	7,383	7,383	94% general ed 93% special ed	We do not have data on who cashed/did not cash the check	Incentives chosen based on strategies that worked successfully in the past for the ECLS-K:2011, the ECLS-K, and other major NCES studies (High School and Beyond, the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, and the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002)
NCES	2017-18 NTPS teacher questionnaire	Cash	Prepaid	$5	With initial mailed survey invitation	Approximately half of early-sampled teachers	36,170 early-sampled teachers: 30,221 public and 5,949 private	Public: 14,455; Private: 2,978	Public: 86.21%; Private: 85.90%
NCES	2017-18 NTPS teacher questionnaire	Cash	Prepaid	$5 (non-priority)/$10 (priority) to sampled teacher; $5 (non-priority)/$10 (priority) to survey coordinator or school principal	With initial mailed survey invitation	Approximately 25% of late-sampled teachers	29,156 late-sampled teachers: 26,054 public and 3,102 private	Public, non-priority: 5,233; Public, priority: 630; Private, non-priority: 530; Private, priority: 226	Public, non-priority: 79.30%; Public, priority: 63.33%; Private, non-priority: 75.47%; Private, priority: 53.54%
NCES	2017-18 NTPS teacher questionnaire	Cash	Prepaid	$5 (non-priority)/$10 (priority) to survey coordinator or school principal; no teacher incentive	With initial mailed survey invitation	Approximately 25% of late-sampled teachers	29,156 late-sampled teachers: 26,054 public and 3,102 private	Public, non-priority: 5,715; Public, priority: 665; Private, non-priority: 530; Private, priority: 237	Public, non-priority: 74.87%; Public, priority: 58.95%; Private, non-priority: 69.43%; Private, priority: 48.52%
NCES	2017-18 NTPS teacher questionnaire	Cash	Prepaid	$5 (non-priority)/$10 (priority) to sampled teacher; no survey coordinator or school principal incentive	With initial mailed survey invitation	Approximately 25% of late-sampled teachers	29,156 late-sampled teachers: 26,054 public and 3,102 private	Public, non-priority: 5,559; Public, priority: 774; Private, non-priority: 573; Private, priority: 199	Public, non-priority: 79.40%; Public, priority: 60.98%; Private, non-priority: 73.65%; Private, priority: 56.78%
NCES	2017-18 NTPS teacher questionnaire	Cash	Prepaid	$10 (non-priority)/$20 (priority)	With third mailed survey invitation (paper questionnaire) as part of a contingency plan	Approximately half of non-responding teachers in eligible teacher sampling waves and in domains with low response rates	12,915 teachers in eligible waves: 11,642 public and 1,273 private	Public, non-priority: 4,724; Public, priority: 64; Private, non-priority: 677; Private, priority: 3	Public: 65.04%; Private: 59.70%
NCES	2019-20 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study - Calibration Study (Started data collection in March 2020)	Cash, PayPal, Check	Both, Prepaid and Postpaid	$2 prepaid cash + $30 (or $15 for selected calibration cases); Max: $32	$2 prepaid and promised incentive offered on Week 1. $10 prepaid offered only to Calibration Group 1 at Week 9.	Calibration Group 1 - $2 Prepaid Cash; $10 Prepaid PayPal; $20 Promise.; Calibration Group 2 - $2 Prepaid Cash; $15 (or $30) promise; Calibration Group 3 - $30 PayPal/Check promise	6,151	6,151	Of 3,816 eligible Calibration Group 1 and Group 2 cases that received $2 prepaid at Week 1 - 70.8% RR (to date by Week 22). Of 302 eligible Calibration Group 1 cases that accepted the $10 PayPal offered at Week 9 - 49.7% RR (to date by Week 22)	Of 3,816 eligible Calibration Group 1 and Group 2 cases that received $2 prepaid at Week 1, 29.2% have not yet completed the survey (to date by Week 22). Of 302 eligible Calibration Group 1 cases that accepted the $10 PayPal offered at Week 9, 50.3% have not yet completed the survey (to date by Week 22)	Singer, E., Van Hoewyk, J., Gebler, N., Raghunathan, T., and McGonagle, K. (1999). The Effect of Incentives on Response Rates in Interviewer-Mediated Surveys. Journal of Official Statistics, 15:217-230
NCES	2019-20 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study - Main Study (Started data collection in April 2020)	PayPal, Check	Both, Prepaid and Postpaid	Max: $30	Week 1	$30 PayPal/Check promise; offered to all cases; $10 Prepaid +$20 Promise may be offered to selected cases later in data collection.	143,849	143,849	TBD - Main Study cases have not been offered Prepaid yet.	TBD - Main Study cases have been offered Prepaid yet	Singer, E., Van Hoewyk, J., Gebler, N., Raghunathan, T., and McGonagle, K. (1999). The Effect of Incentives on Response Rates in Interviewer-Mediated Surveys. Journal of Official Statistics, 15:217-230
NCES	2016/20 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study - Calibration Study (Started data collection in July 2020)	Cash, PayPal, Check	Both, Prepaid and Postpaid	Aggressive Protocol: $2 prepaid (cash or PayPal) + $35 promised with optional: • $5 early bird • $10 boost; Max: $47	Week 1	Aggressive protocol: Past nonrespondents and past partial respondents	3,130	3,130 (Aggressive protocol only)	During the first four weeks of calibration 1 data collection, 21.8% of cases who received their $2 prepaid incentive via PayPal had responded. Of the sample members who received a $2 prepaid cash incentive, 24% had participated.	During the first four weeks of calibration 1 data collection, 79.2% of cases who received their $2 prepaid incentive via PayPal had not responded. Of the sample members who received a $2 prepaid cash incentive, 76% had not participated.	Church, A.H. (1993). Estimating the Effect of Incentives on Mail Survey Response Rates: A Meta-Analysis. Public Opinion Quarterly, 57(1), 62-79. Cantor, D., O’Hare, B.C., and O’Connor, K.S. (2008). The Use of Monetary Incentives to Reduce Nonresponse in Random Digit Dial Telephone Surveys. In Lepkowski, J.M., Tucker, N.C., Brick, J.M., de Leeuw, E., Japec, L., Lavrakas, P.J., Link, M.W., and Sangster, R.L. (eds.). Advances in Telephone Survey Methodology. New York: Wiley. Goeritz, A.S. (2006). Incentives in web studies: Methodological issues and review. International Journal of Internet Science, 1, 58-70. Medway, R.L. and Tourangeau, R. (2015). Response Quality in Telephone Surveys. Do Prepaid Incentives Make a Difference? Public Opinion Quarterly, 79(2), 524-543. Singer, E. and Ye, C. (2013). The Use and Effects of Incentives in Surveys. Annals. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 645(1), 112-141.
NCES	2016/20 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study - Main Study (Starts in August/September 2020)	Cash, PayPal, Check	Both, Prepaid and Postpaid	Aggressive Protocol: $2 prepaid (cash or PayPal) + $35 promised with optional: • $5 early bird • $10 boost; Max: $47 Default Protocol: $30 promised with $2 prepaid or $10 flash; Max: $40	Week 1	Aggressive protocol: Past nonrespondents and past partial respondents Default protocol: Double wave respondents	19,522	19,522 (4,492 with aggressive protocol; 15,030 with default protocol)	TBD - Main Study cases have not been offered Prepaid yet.	TBD - Main Study cases have been offered Prepaid yet	Church, A.H. (1993). Estimating the Effect of Incentives on Mail Survey Response Rates: A Meta-Analysis. Public Opinion Quarterly, 57(1), 62-79. Cantor, D., O’Hare, B.C., and O’Connor, K.S. (2008). The Use of Monetary Incentives to Reduce Nonresponse in Random Digit Dial Telephone Surveys. In Lepkowski, J.M., Tucker, N.C., Brick, J.M., de Leeuw, E., Japec, L., Lavrakas, P.J., Link, M.W., and Sangster, R.L. (eds.). Advances in Telephone Survey Methodology. New York: Wiley. Goeritz, A.S. (2006). Incentives in web studies: Methodological issues and review. International Journal of Internet Science, 1, 58-70. Medway, R.L. and Tourangeau, R. (2015). Response Quality in Telephone Surveys. Do Prepaid Incentives Make a Difference? Public Opinion Quarterly, 79(2), 524-543. Singer, E. and Ye, C. (2013). The Use and Effects of Incentives in Surveys. Annals. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 645(1), 112-141.
NCES	2016/17 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study	PayPal or Check	Postpaid	$20/$35/$55 baseline incentive offer, +$5 early bird/flash and $10 boost incentive offered to select groups; Max: $55	Baseline incentive offered at Week 1 (Early bird offered to selected groups during first 4 weeks of data collection (DC); Boost and Flash incentive offered to select groups during the extension phase of DC)	Aggressive protocol for past nonrespondents and past partial respondents; Default protocol for late base year (NPSAS:16) respondents; Relaxed protocol for early base year (NPSAS:16) respondents	27,340	27,340 (8,130 with aggressive protocol; 7,330 with default protocol; 11,980 with relaxed protocol)	n/a - no prepaid	n/a - no prepaid
NCES	2008/18 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study	Cash, PayPal, Check	Both, Prepaid and Postpaid	Double Respondent Protocol: $2 prepaid (cash) + $30 promised with optional: $5 flash or $10 boost; $5 resumé Max: $47 Prior Round Nonrespondent (NR) Protocol: $2 prepaid +$50 promised with optional: $5 flash or $10 boost; $5 resumé Max: $57	Double Resp -$2 Prepaid + $30 Promise offered at Week 1, +$5 Flash offered at Week 25, +$10 Boost offered at Week 29; Prior Round NR - $2 Prepaid + $50 Promise at Week 1, + $5 Flash offered at Week 16, +$10 Boost offered at Week 22; upon completion of survey, respondents were offered $5 to upload a resumé.	All fielded cases were eligible to receive an incentive. Flash offered at Week 16 (or 25) and Boost offered at Week 22 (or 29)	17,110	17,110	Of 15,866 eligible cases that received $2 prepaid at Week 1 - 87.6% RR .	Of 15,866 eligible cases that received $2 prepaid at Week 1, 12.4 % did not complete the survey.	Medway, R.L. and Tourangeau, R. 2015. Response Quality in Telephone Surveys. Do Prepaid Incentives Make a Difference? Public Opinion Quarterly, 79(2), 524-543. Millar, M.M., and Dillman, D.A. 2011. Improving Response to Web and Mixed-Mode Surveys. Public Opinion Quarterly, 75(2), 249–269. Tourangeau, R., Conrad, F.G., and Couper, M. 2013. The Science of Web Surveys. Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press.
NCES	2012/17 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study - Calibration Study	PayPal or Check	Both, Prepaid and Postpaid	$30 baseline ($75 to selected Calibration cases); $45 incentive boost for eligible cases; Max: $75	Week 1 (Incentive boost offered to prior-round nonrespondents at week 14)	Double Nonrespondents - offered $30 for abbreviated survey or $75 for full survey. Prior Round Non-Respondents - offered $10 Prepaid + $20 Promise or $30 Promise. Incentive boost offered to prior-round nonrespondents at week 14.	3,300	3,300	Of 1,486 eligible cases that received the $10 prepaid offer at Week 1 - 28% RR	Information not available.	Hill, J., Smith, N., Wilson, D., and Wine, J. (2016). 2012/14 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12/14): Data File Documentation (NCES 2016-062). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.
NCES	2012/17 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study - Main Study	PayPal or Check	Postpaid	$30 baseline (or $75 for Double Nonrespondents only); $45 incentive boost; Max: $75	Week 1 (Incentive boost offered to prior-round nonrespondents at week 14)	Double Nonrespondents - offered $75 for full survey. Prior Round Non-Respondents - offered $30 Promise + $45 Incentive boost at week 14.	30,000	30,000	N/A - Main Study cases were not offered a prepaid incentive.	N/A - Main Study cases were not offered a prepaid incentive.	Hill, J., Smith, N., Wilson, D., and Wine, J. (2016). 2012/14 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12/14): Data File Documentation (NCES 2016-062). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.
Notes:
1) Table developed on July 21, 2020. Updates from NCES August 7, 2020. Updates from NCSES August 27, 2020.
2) Gray shading indicates the surveys only using contingent incentives (postpaid)
3) NCSES point of contact for this information is John Finamore. NCES point of contact for this information is Lisa Hudson.