Respondent Refusal

The respondent refusal disposition is used in telephone, in-person, mail, and Internet surveys to categorize a case in which contact has been made with the designated respondent, but he or she has refused a request by an interviewer to complete an interview (telephone or in-person survey) or a request to complete and return a questionnaire (mail or Internet survey). A case can be considered a respondent refusal only if the designated respondent has been selected and it is clear that he or she has stated he or she will not complete the interview or questionnaire. Respondent refusals are considered eligible cases in calculating response and cooperation rates.

In a telephone survey, a case is coded with the respondent refusal disposition when an interviewer dials a telephone number, reaches a person, begins his or her introductory script, and selects the designated respondent, and the respondent declines to complete the interview. In calls ending in a respondent refusal, the designated respondent may provide an explanation for the refusal such as, “I don't do surveys,” “I don't have time,” “I'm not interested,” or “Please take me off your list.” In other instances, the respondent contacted may simply hang up.

Respondent refusals in an in-person survey occur when an interviewer contacts a household, a household member answers the door, the interviewer begins his or her introductory script, and selects the designated respondent, and the designated respondent declines to complete the interview. Common explanations in in-person surveys for household refusals parallel those for telephone surveys.

Cases in a mail or Internet survey of specifically named persons are coded with the respondent refusal disposition when contact has been made with the sampled person and he or she declines to complete and return the questionnaire. Because little may be known in a mail survey about who in the household generated the refusal, it can be difficult to determine whether a household refusal or respondent refusal disposition is most appropriate. Different invitation methods for Internet surveys (such as contacting sampled respondents at their email addresses) make respondent refusals the most common type of refusal in an Internet survey.

Respondent refusals usually are considered a final disposition. Because refusal rates for all types of surveys have increased significantly in the past decade, many survey organizations review cases ending in respondent refusals and select cases in which the refusal is not extremely strong in nature to be contacted again in order to try to convert the case's disposition to a completed interview.