Tom Barton

Kauffman Firm Survey (KFS): Third Follow-Up Annotated Questionnaire

The Kauffman Firm Survey (KFS) is a panel study of new businesses founded in 2004 and tracked over their early years of operation. The survey focuses on the nature of new business formation activity; characteristics of the strategy, offerings, and employment patterns of new businesses; the nature of the financial and organizational arrangements of these businesses; and the characteristics of their founders. The third follow-up survey covers calendar year 2007.

Understanding Web Completion in a Survey of New Businesses (Presentation)

Surveys of new establishments continue to encounter increased levels of both non-response and costs. Factors contributing to declining participation include the prevalence of sales solicitations new businesses receive, the lack of time available to business principals to complete surveys, and gatekeepers preventing direct access to business principals. The Kauffman Firm Survey, and others, have used multi-mode data collection methods including a self-administered web component to reduce time and cost, as well as to maximize respondent convenience. Understanding how establishments differ by mode of completion will inform future establishment web survey development. This paper will compare differences in industry, size, and complexity among businesses completing the web survey before and after CATI prompting, and those completing a CATI interview.

Minimizing Non-Response in a Survey of New Businesses (Presentation)

Research surveys of establishments such as new businesses face significant challenges. Cooperation rates are generally lower than household surveys because of lack of interest, lack of time, or confidentiality concerns. The Kauffman Firm Survey (KFS), sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, used various techniques to achieve a response rate of 43 percent. The KFS used a multi-mode approach to encourage Web response and reduce telephone interviewing costs. In training telephone interviewers, refusal avoidance was emphasized, including quick response to initial reluctance to participate, and identifying and quickly responding to common reasons for refusal. We also emphasized completing the survey screener quickly to identify eligible businesses, which were about 35 percent of the sample. This paper describes these training methods, outlines other steps to improve response rates, and compares survey results of cases with an initial refusal with results from cases that completed without an initial refusal.