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Question: Do you have any tips or resources pertaining to tracking/contacting the recently incarcerated population? I'm sure this particular population doesn't want to be reminded that they were previously in prison. But, they are needed to complete a one year follow-up survey with a program that they were involved in when they were incarcerated. Sending letters to the addresses that they provide upon consent (a year ago or longer) simply isn't resulting in participants going online to take a short survey with a $10 gift card incentive. Any suggestions?

Answer:

. Thanks for writing to us with your important question. You can take small comfort in knowing that it is not easy to get people to fill out surveys under any circumstances! But in your case, some thoughts: 1. You could raise the incentive ($ 10 seems too small). Or you could enter respondents in a lottery to win a three-figure gift card. 2. Some people may not have easy online access; so could you provide a mail-back option? 3. You could frame your letter.in terms of helping other people, rather than themselves, and stress this appeal. 4. Making your letter short, colloquial, personal, and hand-signed may also help. 5. Repeated attempts are a natural part of the process. For more detail, you might consult some of the work of Don Dillman at Washington State.

We hope this much may be helpful to you. Thanks again for writing, and best wishes for success in your work.

Question Date: Thu, 02/22/2018