What is an Incidence Rate (IR)?

An Incidence Rate (IR) is the rate at which a new event occurs over a specified period of time. 

In the case of survey-based primary research, incidence rate refers to the proportion of the population that qualifies for a survey, based on the desired screening criteria. For example, if the desired criteria for the survey is people in the Midwest in the US, then the incidence rate is 20% (as people living in the Midwest represent roughly 20% of the US population).  

As a general rule, we suggest that you survey as broad an audience as possible so your analysis encompasses the broadest portion of the population. If sub-segments of the population are of particular interest, you can use the filtering function to narrow down the results.

The incidence rate of your sample has a direct impact on feasibility, cost, and fieldwork times. The lower the incidence rate, the more costly and lengthy your study is likely to be.