Reducing refusal rates in the case of threatening questions : the 'door-in-the-face' technique

In this article we examine under wnich conditions personally threatening questions produce sufficient response rates. The income question serves as an example to demonstrate that question format may increase the threatening impact of the question topic. Based on the compliance gaining mechanisms operating in the ‘doorin-the-face ' technique an income question sequence was designed. Tested in two nationwide German surveys this question sequence achieved extremely low refusal rates. Reducing Refusal Rates 1