Why Reliability Is More Important Than a High Response Ratio in Employee Research

In HR, a lot of attention is often paid to increasing the response rate of surveys. This makes sense, because a higher response seems at first glance to mean that the data is more representative. But is that true?

At Deepler, we do a lot of research in organizations. A common response from our customers is “I don't need an MTO to be scientifically substantiated”. This sometimes even goes so far that providers of some studies recommend not paying too much attention to the scientific foundation. We strongly disagree with that.

While response ratio is important, an obsession with the number of responses can compromise the reliability of the data obtained. In this blog, we'll discuss why reliability is essential and how to ensure that your surveys not only get a lot of responses, but also provide useful and reliable results.

Why Reliability in Surveys Is Crucial

Reliability is the extent to which a survey offers consistency and accuracy in the results. This means that if the same survey is taken multiple times under the same conditions, the results should be comparable. In the HR context, reliability is vital because decisions about, for example, employee satisfaction, engagement and performance management are based on the results of these surveys. If the data is unreliable, the decisions made can be harmful to the organization.

Comparison between Response Ratio and Validity

A high response rate may indicate that a large number of your employees have completed the survey, but this does not guarantee that the results are reliable. For example, if only the most engaged employees respond, this can give a distorted view of overall satisfaction. This makes the survey less representative, despite the high response rate.

The Trap of Chasing a High Response Ratio

Many HR professionals focus primarily on increasing the response rate, often through incentives or repeated reminders. However, this can lead to a number of problems:

Response bias

One of the biggest risks in chasing a high response rate is response bias. This happens when certain groups within your employee population are systematically under-represented or over-represented in the survey results. For example, if younger employees respond more often than older employees, you get a distorted view that is not representative of the entire organization.

Quality of Responses

In addition, too much focus on the number of responses can lead to a decrease in the quality of the answers. When employees feel pressured to respond, this can result in incomplete or inconsistent responses, which negatively affects the reliability of the survey.

How to Increase the Reliability of Your Survey

Instead of focusing solely on the number of responses, there are several strategies you can use to ensure the reliability of your survey:

Pre-test and Pilot Studies

Before broadening the survey, it is useful to do a pre-test or pilot study with a small, representative group of employees. This helps to identify and adjust any errors or ambiguities in the questions.

Questioning Optimization

The wording of the questions in your survey has a major impact on the reliability of the answers. Make sure questions are clear, unambiguous and relevant to your organization's context. Avoid jargon and ensure a logical order of questions.

Sample Size and Representativeness

While a high response rate is desirable, the focus should be on obtaining a representative sample. This means that you must ensure that all relevant subgroups within the organization are well represented in the results.

When the Response Ratio Is Important

There are situations where a high response rate is essential, for example when you want to gauge the opinion of the entire organization or when there is little variation in the population. It is important to find a balance between a sufficiently high response rate and the reliability of the results. The motto here is to see how much response is needed for the results to be representative. From a representation of 95% or more, you can stop pushing further on response.

Did you know that you can see the validity yourself within the Deepler studies? In addition to the response ratio, in addition to each survey, we also show the validity of data in the meantime. That way, you don't have to be a statistician to understand how reliable the results are.

Conclusion

While a high response rate is an important factor in the success of a survey, it should not be at the expense of the reliability of the results. For HR professionals, it is crucial to shift the focus from quantity to quality. By providing a representative sample and optimizing questions, you can collect reliable data that forms the basis for effective decisions within your organization.

Review your current surveys and find out where you can make improvements to increase the reliability of your results. Do you need help designing a reliable HR survey? Contact us for professional advice.

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