INCREASING MAIL QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSE - A FOUR STATE COMPARISON

• NCJ Number: 16191
• Journal: American Sociological Review Volume: 39 Issue: 5 Dated: (OCTOBER 1974) Pages: 744-756
• Author(s): D A DILLMAN; E H CARPENTER; J A CHRISTENSON; R M BROOKS
• Date Published: 1974
• Length: 13 pages
• Corporate Author: American Sociological Review
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: PAPER PRESENTED AT THE MEETING OF THE RURAL SOCIOLOGICAL SOCIETY, AUGUST 1974.

Annotation

TESTING OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A METHOD WHICH DEPENDS ON SYSTEMATICALLY MANIPULATING ALL ASPECTS OF THE DATA COLLECTION PROCESS.

Abstract

EIGHTY-FIVE TO 165 ITEM QUESTIONNAIRES WERE USED IN TESTS IN WASHINGTON, ARIZONA, INDIANA, AND NORTH CAROLINA. AN INTENSIVE FOLLOW-UP WAS USED TO INCREASE THE LEVEL OF QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSE. THE ORIGINAL MAILING WAS FOLLOWED BY A POSTCARD ONE WEEK LATER, A LETTER WITH A REPLACEMENT QUESTIONNAIRE AT THE END OF THE THIRD WEEK, AND A FINAL LETTER WITH REPLACEMENT QUESTIONNAIRE, SENT BY CERTIFIED MAIL AFTER SEVEN WEEKS. RESPONSE RATES RANGED FROM 69.7 TO 75.2 PERCENT. RESEARCHERS PROJECTED THAT WITHOUT THE LAST TWO MAILINGS THE PROBABLE FINAL RESPONSE RATES WOULD HAVE BEEN LESS THAN 50 PERCENT. THIS DATA COLLECTION WAS EQUALLY EFFECTIVE IN RURAL AND URBAN REGIONS, AND DATA QUALITY, AS MEASURED BY ITEM NON-RESPONSE, WAS UNIFORMLY HIGH. A LIST OF REFERENCES IS INCLUDED.