Once your questionnaire is designed and ethically approved (if required), the next step is to launch and manage the data collection process. Conducting a survey involves more than just distribution—it requires strategic planning to maximise response rates, maintain data quality, and ensure a positive experience for participants.

To achieve meaningful results, it’s important to encourage strong participation. You can increase response rates by:

• Making the survey short and accessible: Aim for a completion time of under 10 minutes. Clearly state this at the start of your survey or in your invitation message.
• Providing a clear purpose: Tell participants why the survey matters, how their responses will be used, and what impact their input might have.
• Offering appropriate incentives: Small incentives (e.g., entry into a prize draw or a voucher) can boost response rates but must be used ethically and disclosed in the participant information sheet.
• Using personalised invitations: Addressing respondents by name (if possible) and using relevant communication channels can make your message more engaging.

Tips for reminders and follow-ups

Not all participants will respond immediately. Thoughtful follow-ups are essential:

• Send reminders 3-7 days after the initial invitation, and again a few days before the survey closes.
• Keep reminders brief and polite, and highlight the importance of their participation and the time required.
• Consider using different formats and reminders, such as email, SMS, or in-platform notifications (e.g., via Brightspace).
• If using online tools like Qualtrics or REDCap, set up automated reminder emails to non-respondents.

Managing survey fatigue and drop-out

Survey fatigue is a major contributor to incomplete responses or high drop-out rates. You can reduce fatigue by:

• Starting with easy, engaging questions and keeping the tone conversational, where appropriate.
• Minimising mandatory questions —forcing answers to complex or open-ended items can frustrate respondents.
• Avoiding repetitive question formats, such as long blocks of Likert-scale items.
• Using skip logic and branching to show only relevant questions to help streamline the experience.
• Including a visible progress bar so respondents know how far along they are.

Finally, ensure your Participant Information Sheet explains how incomplete or partial responses will be handled, and assure participants that they can stop the survey at any time without penalty. Respect for participant autonomy and thoughtful survey design are key to ethical and effective data collection.