In market research, the incidence rate is the percentage of people in a given population who qualify for your study based on your screening criteria. In other words, it answers the question: out of everyone I ask, how many are a match for the type of respondent I need?

For example, if you’re conducting a survey about pet food and you want to talk only to dog owners, your incidence rate would reflect how many people in the general population – or in a specific sample – own a dog. If 30 out of 100 people qualify, your incidence rate is 30%.

Why incidence rate is so important

Understanding and correctly estimating incidence is key to building a successful sampling plan. It determines:

• How many people you need to reach out to in order to hit your target number of qualified completes
• Your timeframe – reaching low-incidence audiences often takes more time
• Your cost per complete – panels typically charge more for hard-to-reach groups

Low incidence (under 20%) often means your target audience is niche or highly specific. This isn’t a problem – as long as it’s planned for early. Without proper planning, you risk running into delays, overruns, or scrapping the research altogether because feasibility was overlooked.

Incidence in both qualitative and quantitative research

Incidence rates affect both qualitative and quantitative approaches. For qualitative research – like in-depth interviews or focus groups – low incidence may require extended recruiting time or more creative methods to locate the right participants. In quantitative research – such as online surveys – it may impact the number of responses needed to reach statistical significance.

Example of how incidence shapes a sampling plan

Let’s say you need 400 completes among millennial parents who buy eco-friendly cleaning products. After screening, you find out only 10% of people qualify. That means you’ll need to send survey invitations to roughly 4,000 respondents to hit your target. Knowing this ahead of time lets you adjust expectations, budget accordingly, and choose the right sampling partner like Dynata to support your plan.

Whether you're working with internal teams, agencies, or a tool like SIVO's On Demand Talent, getting clear on incidence upfront is the foundation for accurate targeting, better timing, and fewer surprises along the way.

Before you launch a survey or start recruiting, it's crucial to estimate incidence rate accurately. That means understanding how common – or rare – your target respondent is within the panel audience. Fortunately, platforms like Dynata make this process easier, giving you a realistic sense of how feasible it is to reach your audience.

Step-by-step: How to estimate incidence with Dynata

Dynata is a large online panel provider offering access to millions of consumers globally. Here's a simple breakdown of how to estimate your incidence using Dynata or similar data sampling vendors:

1. Define your audience. Be specific – include relevant demographics, behaviors, and product usage. For instance, you might be targeting women ages 25–45 who regularly buy gluten-free snacks.
2. Create your screener questions. Screeners help identify if respondents match your criteria. Make sure they are clear, unbiased, and aligned to what you're really trying to measure.
3. Request a feasibility check. Share your screener and target definition with your panel provider. Dynata can run a "test screener" or check their panel data to estimate what percentage of people typically qualify.
4. Use that estimate to refine your sample size. If Dynata tells you your projected incidence is 15%, and you need 300 qualified completes, then you should plan to reach out to roughly 2,000 people.

Tips for more accurate incidence estimates

• Look at past studies. If you’ve done similar work before, use historical data to guide your assumptions.
• Talk to an expert. SIVO’s On Demand Talent professionals can help review screeners or interpret feasibility data to improve sample quality and honesty.
• Be conservative. If you’re unsure, plan for a lower incidence to ensure you're not underestimating cost or effort.

What happens if incidence is lower than expected?

Let’s say you thought your incidence was 40%, but Dynata reports that it’s closer to 10%. That changes everything. A lower incidence means higher costs, longer timelines, and possible difficulty meeting quotas – unless you adjust your criteria or expand your audience.

This is where having a seasoned insights partner can help. Experienced professionals – like the experts in SIVO’s On Demand Talent network – know how to navigate feasibility issues, tweak screeners, and rebalance targets without compromising quality. Unlike freelancers or one-size-fits-all consultants, our experts work alongside your team to build sustainable capabilities for smarter research going forward.

In short: estimating incidence with Dynata is not just a precaution – it’s one of the smartest things you can do to protect your timeline, your budget, and the ultimate success of your market research sample strategy.

When planning a sample strategy for market research, one of the simplest yet most effective levers you can pull is your screener. Screening questions determine who qualifies for the research, and even small changes can dramatically affect the incidence rate – the percentage of people who meet the survey criteria.

If your incidence rate is too low, your sample will be harder to fill, timelines may extend, and costs can rise. On the flip side, broadening the screener too much can dilute your sample and lead to less relevant answers. The goal is to strike a smart balance: ensuring your targeted group is both relevant and reachable.

Practical ways to improve your incidence rate through better screeners

• Revisit over-restrictive criteria: Review how many filters you're applying. Are you layering on niche requirements that may not be critical to your objective? For example, instead of asking for “married moms who drive electric SUVs and use two specific baby brands,” consider loosening brand or vehicle constraints, unless vital to the study.
• Test screener drop-off reasons: Platforms like Dynata offer visibility into where people are getting screened out. Use this data to troubleshoot overly narrow or confusing questions that reduce incidence unnecessarily.
• Simplify your wording: Clear, relatable language increases the chance that respondents will answer accurately. Avoid technical jargon and ask one thing per question to avoid confusion.
• Use soft qualifiers for edge cases: If there’s room to keep “might qualify” participants (like lapsed users), consider including them and later segmenting results during analysis.

Let’s say you’re looking to study pet food buyers for a new marketing message. A screener that only includes “dog owners who buy organic dry food from brand X” might yield a very low incidence. If “organic” or “brand-loyal” buyers aren’t essential to the initial exploration, removing or adjusting those could improve response rates significantly – while still keeping the research on track.

Keep in mind: adjusting a screener isn’t about lowering quality, it’s about increasing feasibility while protecting the integrity of your results. Partnering with seasoned researchers or leveraging data from platforms like Dynata can help you spot where refinements are needed most.

A well-built sampling plan is the backbone of any research project – especially when using a platform like Dynata. Whether you’re conducting qualitative research like in-depth interviews or large-scale quantitative research surveys, your success hinges on setting realistic expectations rooted in actual data.

This means understanding not just who your ideal participants are, but how reachable they are at scale. A sampling plan grounded in data avoids surprise delays, costs, or unbalanced results.

What goes into a thoughtful sampling plan?

1. Start with incidence insights: Use historical Dynata data or preliminary feasibility checks to estimate how many panelists meet your criteria. This gives you a meaningful sense of how difficult your sample will be to fill and informs how many outreach attempts you'll need.

2. Define sample size and quotas: Decide how many completed responses you need overall and whether you need to break that down by segments (e.g., age, region, product behaviors). A clear quota structure ensures balanced representation.

3. Account for drop-off and screen-outs: Not all those invited will qualify or complete the survey. By factoring in common screen-out rates and dropout percentages (available in Dynata dashboards or from experienced researchers), you can request the right number of invites from the start.

4. Incorporate fielding time and budget: Realistic timelines prevent rushed results. For lower incidence rates, plan additional days for fieldwork. Similarly, costs can scale with difficulty – something that needs to be calculated upfront to avoid underbudgeting later.

5. Plan for quality checks: Don’t overlook checks for data reliability, such as attention filters or recontact validation. Even the best-sampled plans require built-in mechanisms to ensure responses are high quality.

Imagine a project targeting Gen Z streaming service users who binge-watch at least 10+ hours per week. Rather than just guessing the size of this group, pulling incidence estimates from Dynata or similar panels can help you forecast how difficult it will be to fill the sample and how many panelists to approach. This type of data-first planning avoids overpromising results or blowing your timeline.

A strong sample strategy isn’t about just checking boxes – it’s about forecasting outcomes using all available inputs. With a clear, incidence-driven approach, you maximize the value of every respondent and the reliability of your results.

As platforms like Dynata and other DIY tools make data sampling more accessible, one thing hasn’t changed – sampling strategies still require expert oversight to drive actionable results. Even the best tools won’t fix overly narrow screeners, unrealistic timelines, or misaligned sample objectives. That’s where experienced professionals, like SIVO’s On Demand Talent, make a powerful difference.

Many brands today are exploring faster research cycles and leaner budgets. But in the rush to get from question to answer, the planning process can suffer. Sound sample strategy isn’t just about technical set-up – it involves interpreting the business goal, building a smart screener, using platform data like Dynata's effectively, and ensuring quality respondents that reflect your target audience.

What makes On Demand Talent different from freelancers or consultants?

• Trusted expertise: Our On Demand Talent professionals are experienced market research experts in both qualitative and quantitative research sample planning. They’re not interns or generalists – they’re specialists who can immediately support your team without a long onboarding curve.
• Platform fluency: Dynata and other panels have their nuances. Our experts know how to navigate feasibility reports, estimate true incidence, and make real-time adjustments without derailing timelines.
• Flexible engagement: Whether filling in for a temporary vacancy or helping your team skill up on best practices, On Demand Talent is available quickly – often in days, not months. No need to commit to a full-time hire.
• Strategic guidance: Beyond execution, our experts help translate business questions into research-ready briefs. You get more than bodies – you get thinking partners who ensure the research doesn’t just happen, but happens correctly.

For example, if your team is working with Dynata to estimate an incidence rate for a new consumer product, but lacks internal sampling expertise, bringing in On Demand Talent means access to professionals who’ve done this hundreds of times. They can revise your screener, adjust quotas, test for incidence using platform data, and guide the project toward reliable results.

In today’s evolving insights world – where DIY tools, automation, and AI are on the rise – human expertise is what ensures those tools are used strategically. On Demand Talent helps you not only get better sample strategy outcomes today but also builds your internal team’s long-term capability along the way.