Structural Determinants of Mail Survey Response Rates Over a 12 Year Period, 1988-19991 (original) (raw)
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Coverage and response rate challenges facing telephone and internet surveys have encouraged scientists to reconsider mail data collection methods. Although response rates to telephone surveys have declined sharply in the last 20 years, it is unclear how response rates to mail have fared during this time. This study analyzes 179 mail-back surveys of visitors to US National Parks from 1988 to 2007, which used virtually the same administration procedures throughout the period. Results show that response rates, based on only those who initially agreed to return a questionnaire, have remained at a high level with a 76% average while the number of questions and pages steadily increased. Despite this rise in response burden, rates have declined only moderately from about 80% in the late 1980s to about 70% more recently. The roles of additional contacts and survey salience in maintaining high response rates are examined. Results suggest that mail-back surveys for obtaining information from quasi-general public populations remain an effective data collection procedure.
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marketing-bulletin.massey.ac.nz
Two measures intended to increase response were tested in a mail survey of members of the New Zealand general public. The first involved an envelope message designed to establish the non-commercial status of the survey and emphasise its importance. The ...
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smib.vuw.ac.nz
Mail questionnaires are a popular means of surveying diverse groups of subjects when performing marketing research. However, response rates for mail surveys have been declining in recent times. This paper reviews suggested methods for improving response rates from current ...
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Mail surveys have an undeserved reputation for producing low response rates. However, the evidence presented in this paper demonstrates that response rates of 60% or better can be routinely achieved for mail surveys of the general public, specific consumer groups, and businesses, regardless of the topic investigated. To achieve response rates of this magnitude, the most effective technique is to send at least two reminder letters, include a questionnaire with each reminder, and include a reply-paid envelope. For surveys of the general public, response rates can also be improved by addressing the survey to a specific person, and by providing a monetary incentive.
Mail surveys have long been a staple of social science research. Properly conducted, they can gather representative data about a population that provides important generalizations about that population. High response rates are one crucial element of this capacity to make such generalizations. Response rates to mail surveys-especially those targeting general populations-have declined substantially over the years, even when employing standard "best practices" such as carefully crafted and pretested instruments, good explanations of research purpose, and multiple contacts. Our research group has a unique capacity to speak to declining response rates, having implemented mail surveys on natural resource-related topics-using relatively similar methods-for more than 45 years. We present the results of a longitudinal analysis of response rates to 191 surveys we conducted between 1971 and 2017 (response rates and methodological specifics carefully recorded over this time), documenting the changes in response rates over the years, and the factors associated with these changes. Variables assessed include topic saliency, the nature of the sample, timing, length and complexity of the questionnaire, and others. We find that year of implementation is a strong predictor of response rate, net of these other factors. We use these findings as a base from which to engage a larger discussion about strategies that social science researchers might use, both in terms of continued modifications to mail survey approaches and in moving towards other research methods.
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Annual review of sociology, 1991
For reasons of cost and ease of implementation, mail surveys are more frequently used for social research than are either telephone or face-to-face interviews. In this chapter, the last two decades of research aimed at improv-ing mail survey methods are examined. Discussion of this ...
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Journal of Environmental Management, 2009
Environmental economists have long used surveys to gather information about people's preferences. A recent innovation in survey methodology has been the advent of web-based surveys. While the Internet appears to offer a promising alternative to conventional survey administration modes, concerns exist over potential sampling biases associated with web-based surveys and the effect these may have on valuation estimates. This paper compares results obtained from a travel cost questionnaire of visitors to Fraser Island, Australia, that was conducted using two alternate survey administration modes; conventional mail and web-based. It is found that response rates and the socio-demographic makeup of respondents to the two survey modes are not statistically different. Moreover, both modes yield similar consumer surplus estimates.