Like most direct-mail computer resellers, CDW was looking at decreased response rates to the 55 million catalogs it sent out each year thanks to online shopping.
This response rate is low compared with reported average response rates for internet surveys; however, decreased response rates for internet surveys have been found when mail is used as the solicitation medium as well as when surveys are directed at the general population (Manfreda et al. 2008).
However, this is unlikely to produce decreased response rates during the cue-presentation test for several reasons.
With respect to the cue-presentation phase of the experiment, a mixed ANOVA yielded a significant main effect of hour, suggesting that over six hours of testing under abstinence (extinction) conditions, both paired and unpaired animals decreased response rates, F 5, 60) = 10.75, p<.
Decreasing response rates may introduce a bias if respondents have different characteristics than non-respondents for variable(s) of interest.
Lately, there has been a discussion about decreasing response rates in survey studies in Swedish healthcare [ 16].
Due to the current trend of decreasing response rates, further research into strategies to increase those remains important.
All of these features are associated with decreased response rates to chemotherapy (Taguchi et al, 1998, Mai et al, 1999, Koizumi et al, 2000, Ajani et al, 2005).
Comorbid conditions potentially associated with decreased response rates included morbid obesity (body mass index (BMI)>40; 22 patients, 9%) and HIV (7 patients, 3%).
