The wave 6 NEPS adult study incentive experiment

Abstract

"In wave 6 of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) adult starting cohort, an incentive
 experiment was conducted that randomly switched respondent cash incentives from
 promised to (partly) prepaid for half of the eligible sample. This research note examines
 the effects that this change in incentive scheme had on response rates, on sample composition
 in terms of some key survey variables, and fieldwork efforts by interviewers. We find
 moderately sized positive effects on overall response rates. The switch in incentive scheme
 appears to be particularly effective in raising response rates of low educated individuals
 and those with low reading and mathematics competencies, subgroups that participated
 underproportionately in prior waves. This differential reaction to the changed incentive
 scheme therefore leads to a somewhat more balanced sample composition along these dimensions.
 In line with prior studies, effects on fieldwork efforts such as the number of contact
 attempts to obtain an interview could be found, but are small in magnitude." (author's abstract)