Although the figure remains relatively high in Sweden by comparison to other countries, especially the US, less than 80% today reply to surveys, which is 10% fewer than a decade ago, according to a canvassing made by Swedish Radio early in June.

In Sweden, surveys are carried out every week by state institutions, schools, hospitals and businesses. Only a handful are made by telephone, and of these, most are actually connected to market research or directly to phone sales.

Sweden’s state statistics office (SCB) alone surveys almost 30,000 people every month, and SCB and other government agencies have attached mandatory response regulations that stipulate - by law - that some of the surveys to businesses as well as private persons must be filled out and returned.

According to speculation of the survey makers, an overkill of surveys may have serious consequences such as a drop in accuracy due to the public anger with being asked so often to fill out and mail back lengthy forms. Using a questionable procedure that claims to keep the identity of respondents a secret, some surveys from government as well as private polling services contain codes that are used to determine whether responses have been received. When these are missing, recipients are contacted repeatedly by post - using their private name and address - to remind them to complete "voluntary" questionnaires.