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Is the "long survey" dead?

A colleague sent me a link to a blog arguing that the "long survey" is dead. The blog takes the point of view that anything over 20 minutes is long. There's also a link to another blog that presents data from survey monkey surveys showing that the longer the questionnaire, the less time that is spent on each question. They don't really control for question length, etc. But it's still suggestive.

In my world 20 minutes is still a short survey. But the point is still taken. There has been some research on the effect of survey length (announced) on response rates. There probably is need for more.

Still, it might be time to start thinking of alternatives to improve response to long surveys. The most common is to offer a higher incentive, and thereby counteract the burden of the longer survey. Another alternative is to shorten the survey. This doesn't work if your questions are the ones getting tossed. Of course, substituting big data for elements of surveys is another option that is being explored.

Matrix sampling is another useful approach that is little used. It seems like you could do a power analysis for each item, each scale, each model using data from a survey and then subsample content that is overpowered. That takes a lot of work -- by central office staff -- but it might save more respondent (and interviewer) time than it costs.

Another option is to split up interview sessions across time and modes. This seems like it will become a more attractive design. A series of short surveys, completed over some amount of time.

It's probably worth exploring all of these options.


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  1. www.peterlugtig.comMay 31, 2015 at 3:56 PM

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  2. www.peterlugtig.comMay 31, 2015 at 3:58 PM

    Hi James. The "old" surveys - face-to-face surveys of an hour or more - will stay, perhaps fewer than before. It is self-administered surveys which are evolving due to the nature of how we communicate online and on our mobiles. I think your last suggestion is very natural. Most young people may check their e-mail or facebook several times daily. A "panel survey" that asks people 1 or 2 questions several times a day for a short period might really work. Am not sure it has ever been tried, apart from time use surveys.

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