Data collection methods: Postal

 

It is generally assumed that personalising mail survey covering letters increases the response to mail surveys. However, most of the studies that support this assumption were conducted in the 1970s, w ...

In this paper we examine the reasons why the non-use of mail surveys is so prevalent in research in Spain when so many researchers have stressed the low economic costs of this information-gathering me ...

Many claims have been made about the advantages of conducting surveys on the web. However, some concerns have been raised about the quality of the information gathered through this medium. The purpose ...

Reliance on self-report survey data is pervasive across social science disciplines; therefore, understanding the accuracy, or inaccuracy, of such data is important. We identify forms of inaccuracy in ...

Combining quantitative and qualitative research, this study, undertaken by MORI amongst NHS staff in East Kent (UK), explored experiences of, and attitudes to, working in an NHS Trust, the communicati ...

This study compares mail, fax and web-based surveys in a university setting for response speed, response rate and costs. The survey was distributed to 300 hospitality professors randomly chosen from t ...

This study reports the results of examining the reasons for participant refusal in industrial mail surveys. The existing literature provides us with very little knowledge on this topic. Managers who d ...

Postal survey response rates are affected by the intersection of a variety of dependent and independent variables. This paper outlines the response rate variables manipulated in a survey that generate ...

This study investigates the response rate, response speed and response quality of e-mail surveys in comparison with mail surveys and looks into the relative advantages and disadvantages of the two met ...

This paper reports the results of a study which compared the effectiveness of a tea bag and a $1 coin as prepaid incentives in a mail survey of the general public. The tea bag had no effect on respons ...

A number of studies have reported that the use of a preliminary notification letter can boost response to postal surveys by as much as 4%-6%. However these results must be set in context by considerin ...

A split run test was performed to assess the impact of mail questionnaire colour on response rates. A total of 4,250 questionnaires were mailed, half on pastel yellow paper stock and half on white, to ...

This article deals with the effects of a somewhat overlooked response inducing technique in mail surveys, i.e. the inclusion of questionnaire identification numbers. Results indicate that the inclusio ...

Non-response bias has been criticised for causing error in sample estimates. The study analyses the direction and magnitude of non-response bias in mail surveys. The analysis indicates that in samplin ...

Illustration of how easy it is to design a bad market research questionnaire, especially for a postal survey - inspired by a dreadful example from Helena Rubinstein.

Making a contribution to a charitable cause is a promising incentive to encourage survey sample members to complete and return mail questionnaires. Results of the study reported here indicate that the ...

Describes an experiment to compare e-mail and post as methods for delivering a mail survey. It was found that response rates were higher for the post: possible explanations are that e-mail is still un ...

This study reports results of an experiment conducted to compare response rates and response content in mail and electronic mail surveys. Respondents on a large global network (Internet) were sent mai ...

In mail surveys where respondents are asked to rank the first three options, it was found that many respondents did not answer the question correctly, but merely ticked the options. The paper describe ...

This study attempts to compare the effectiveness of fax as a survey medium with mail in terms of response rate, speed and quality. A short questionnaire with eight easy-to-answer questions was used as ...

How receiving a mailed survey fits into the lives of a group of survey recipients is examined using the phenomenological research methodology. Respondents provided protocols that were studied phenomen ...

Many factors are believed to effect mail survey response behaviour and therefore create both non-response and response biases. The impact of one such factor experimentally investigated in the present ...

Though a considerable amount of research has addressed the impact of various factors on mail survey response rate, relatively few studies have focused on the effect of prenotification. Very few have c ...