What is a Good Response Rate for a Random Survey Sample?

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Often times Snap Projects Team, Snap Survey’s survey research team, is asked the question: How many responses do I need to collect from a random sample of respondents in order to receive accurate results?

You ask, we respond! When surveying a random sample of respondents, there are two key measures – Confidence Level and Margin of Error. Each of these key measures works together. For example, if you have a 95% confidence level and a 5% margin of error, and a question answered by 50% of your sample, then 19 out of 20 times, the true answer – the answer you would find if every single person in the target population answered this question – can be assumed to be in the range of 45% to 55%.

The following table explains the number of survey responses you need, depending on the number of people in your target population. 

Survey Responses needed for: 95% Confidence level with +/- 5% Margin of Error

Population Size Responses Needed
10 10
100 80
200 132
300 169
400 197
500 218
600 235
700 249
800 260
900 270
1,000 278
2,000 323
5,000 357
10,000 370
20,000 377
100,000 383
 1,000,000 385

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