Market Research Incidence Rate Calculator
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Predictive Feasibility
Estimate how many people you need to screen to reach your target sample size.
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To achieve your target with the given IR, you must invite this many participants.
Understanding Incidence Rate in Market Research
In the field of market research, the Incidence Rate (IR) is one of the most critical metrics for project planning, budgeting, and feasibility assessment. It measures the percentage of a population that fulfills the specific criteria required to participate in a study.
The Incidence Rate Formula
The mathematical calculation for Incidence Rate is straightforward:
IR = (Number of Qualified Respondents / Total Number of People Screened) x 100
Why Does Incidence Rate Matter?
Incidence Rate directly impacts the Cost Per Interview (CPI). If you are looking for "people who own a car," the IR might be 80%, making the study easy and cheap to field. However, if you are looking for "left-handed owners of a specific 1960s vintage car who live in a specific zip code," the IR might drop to 0.5%.
- Low Incidence (0% – 10%): Hard-to-reach audiences. These studies require more time, higher incentives, and larger recruitment databases.
- Medium Incidence (10% – 40%): Targeted consumer groups (e.g., users of a specific software).
- High Incidence (40% – 100%): General population studies or broad consumer categories.
Practical Example
Imagine you are conducting a study on premium coffee drinkers. You send out a screener to 2,000 people. Out of those, 400 people qualify based on your criteria. Using the calculator:
(400 / 2,000) * 100 = 20% IR
If your final goal is to get 1,000 completed surveys, you can use the predictive feasibility section of our tool to determine that you would need to screen approximately 5,000 people in total to hit your target.
Factors That Lower Your Incidence Rate
- Strict Demographics: Narrow age ranges, specific household income brackets, or niche geographic locations.
- Behavioral Requirements: Requiring participants to have performed a rare action in a short timeframe (e.g., "purchased a jet engine in the last 30 days").
- B2B Roles: Targeting C-suite executives or specialized IT decision-makers.
- Exclusionary Logic: Removing respondents who work in marketing, journalism, or the industry being studied.