摘要：An experiment was conducted to determine how effective a contingent, nonmonetary incentive would be at
inducing college students to participate in a personally-initiated, self-administered survey. A contingent,
nonmonetary incentive is a gift that is offered and delivered at the beginning of the survey, but it is offered
while making the survey request and delivered only if the potential respondent agrees to complete the
survey. The experiment was conducted outside a large public university library in Los Angeles County. As
students exited their university library, an interviewer approached them for an interview. Half of those
approached were offered a contingent, nonmonetary incentive; the other half were not. The incentive
dramatically increased the response rate to the survey. Explanations are offered as to how the incentive
increased the survey response rate.
