Respondent Satisfaction and Respondent Burden among Differently Motivated Participants in a Health-Related Survey

Abstract

Response rates in surveys have declined in many countries over the last decade. Reasons for refusal by nonrespondents have been discussed in many studies, but less attention has been paid to motivation among respondents who do take part. One theoretical framework for studying motivation is self-determination theory, which distinguishes between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. This article describes respondents’ experiences of participating in a self-administered health-related survey. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze data from semistructured telephone interviews with 30 Swedish respondents aged 45—64 years. The results show a broad spectrum of positive as well as negative aspects of survey participation.