Want to recruit the right participants for your studies without losing them along the way? In this article, we'll explore why keeping your screener questions under 5 is the sweet spot for getting quality responses while maintaining a great participant experience.
Participant drop-off and survey fatigue
The primary reason to limit screener questions is to prevent participant abandonment. Each additional question increases the likelihood that potential participants will drop out before completing the screening process. Research shows that survey completion rates decline significantly as the number of questions increases, especially in the initial screening phase where participants haven't yet committed to the full study.
In addition, too many screening questions can lead to participant fatigue, resulting in rushed or inaccurate responses that can actually hurt your screening effectiveness. Participants may start answering randomly or dishonestly just to get through the process, defeating the purpose of careful screening.
Recruitment efficiency
Having more screener questions mean longer qualification times and when screening becomes lengthy, you're essentially asking people to invest significant time upfront with no guarantee they'll qualify for your study. This can create a poor user experience that can damage your recruitment pool and make future studies harder to fill.
Quality over quantity
Limit your screener to assess only essential factors that will determine whether participants' behaviors, backgrounds, habits, and other factors make them suitable for your specific study objectives. This redirects you to identify what truly matters versus what would be "nice to know."
Five well-crafted questions can effectively identify your target audience without overwhelming them. Prioritize your most critical qualifying criteria and combine multiple requirements into single, well-designed questions when possible. This forces you to focus on what truly matters for your research objectives.
The key is being mindful about what's actually necessary for your research goals versus what's merely interesting background information.
Further reading
- Learn more about using screener questions when recruiting moderated panel participants
- Learn more about setting up participant screening logic
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