Response Rates and Perceived Questionnaire Length in Mail Surveys

1979 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry L. Childers ◽  
O. C. Ferrell
Keyword(s):  
Response Rates ◽  
Mail Surveys

Methodology Meets Technology: Survey Response Rates Using Mail, Email and Fax

2000 ◽  
Vol 44 (37) ◽  
pp. 581-584
Author(s):  
Michael S. Wogalter ◽  
Meredith F. Yarbrough ◽  
David W. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Survey Research ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Methodological Issue ◽  
Response Rates ◽  
Survey Response ◽  
Return Rates ◽  
Mail Surveys ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Postal Mail

The use of email and fax communications has increased dramatically over the last decade. They are now commonplace methods of information exchange. Most research involving questionnaires has used postal mail to deliver and return the surveys from recipients who might not otherwise be reached through live administration. A frequent methodological issue with mail surveys is low levels of return rates. The present research compared the return rates of a survey that was sent by mail, email or fax. Participants could return the survey by any of the same three methods. The results showed that postal mail and email exhibited higher return rates than facsimiles and that the method of return tended to be the same method in which the questionnaire was originally sent. Implications of these results for survey research are discussed.

Tone of Postcards in Increasing Survey Response Rates

2004 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 444-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
James H. Price ◽  
Faith Yingling ◽  
Eileen Walsh ◽  
Judy Murnan ◽  
Joseph A. Dake
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Response Rates ◽  
Survey Response ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Mail Surveys ◽  
The Third ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Chi Square Test ◽  
Second Wave

This study assessed differences in response rates to a series of three-wave mail surveys when amiable or insistently worded postcards were the third wave of the mailing. Three studies were conducted; one with a sample of 600 health commissioners, one with a sample of 680 vascular nurses, and one with 600 elementary school secretaries. The combined response rates for the first and second wave mailings were 65.8%, 67.6%, and 62.4%, respectively. A total of 308 amiable and 308 insistent postcards were sent randomly to nonrespondents as the third wave mailing. Overall, there were 41 amiable and 52 insistent postcards returned, not significantly different by chi-square test. However, a separate chi-square test for one of the three studies, the nurses' study, did find a significant difference in favor of the insistently worded postcards.

Mail Surveys and Response Rates: A Literature Review

1975 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 440-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Kanuk ◽  
Conrad Berenson
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Response Rates ◽  
Monetary Incentives ◽  
Limited Evidence ◽  
Mail Surveys

A review of empirical studies concerned with increasing response rates to mail questionnaires reveals the limited evidence upon which most widely accepted techniques are based. The only techniques which seem to be consistently effective in increasing response rates are followup letters and monetary incentives enclosed with the mail questionnaires.

Predicting Response Speed in Mail Surveys

1980 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Huxley
Keyword(s):  
Response Speed ◽  
Response Rates ◽  
Mathematical Function ◽  
Mail Surveys ◽  
Elapsed Time ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Over Time

All mail surveys encounter resistance when they arrive at their destination because they must compete with all other elements in the respondent's environment for his or her time and cooperation. This resistance varies in degree from survey to survey but the pattern of responses it generates over time is remarkably consistent for all surveys: relatively rapid returns in the early stages followed by a gradual tapering off. This pattern can be described by a simple mathematical function, the modified exponential, which relates response rates to elapsed time. The purpose of this article is to indicate how the parameters of this function can be estimated, and how it can be used to predict response speed, forecast the time needed to achieve a desired number of responses, or estimate the number of questionnaires that ought to be mailed out initially.

Increasing Response Rates to Mail Surveys: The Impact of Adherence to Dillman-like Procedures and Techniques

1986 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence S. Cote ◽  
Robert E. Grinnell ◽  
Loren D. Tompkins
Keyword(s):  
Response Rates ◽  
Mail Surveys ◽  
The Impact

SME Survey Methodology: Response Rates, Data Quality, and Cost Effectiveness

2003 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rick Newby ◽  
John Watson ◽  
David Woodliff
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Survey Methodology ◽  
Methodological Issue ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Response Rates ◽  
Mail Surveys ◽  
Medium Enterprise ◽  
Quality Response

Cost effective data collection is an important methodological issue for small and medium enterprise (SME) researchers. There is a generally held view that mail surveys are the most efficient means of collecting empirical data, despite the potential difficulties associated with low response rates. To enhance the usefulness of mail surveys, researchers have suggested a variety of strategies aimed at improving response rates. While previous studies have examined the effect on response rates of many of these strategies, their impact on data quality and on the cost effectiveness of data collection is less well understood. This study evaluates four response–inducing strategies (printing the survey instrument on colored paper, telephone pre–notification, payment of a monetary incentive, and a follow–up mailing) in terms of their effect on data quality, response rates, and cost effectiveness for a population of SMEs.

Effects of Type of Postage and Covering Envelope on Response Rates in a Mail Survey

1986 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 279-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Elkind ◽  
Georgiana Shick Tryon ◽  
Anthony J. De Vito
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Mail Survey ◽  
Response Rates ◽  
Postage Stamp ◽  
Return Rates ◽  
Mail Surveys ◽  
Return Envelope

Two variables thought to influence return rates for mail surveys, type of covering envelope (plain or university printed) and type of return envelope (postage stamp or business reply) produced no statistically significant differences in return rates. Therefore, anticipated response rates and cost-effectiveness become important considerations when choosing methods for mail survey.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document