Reviews of 227 comparative studies and 50 descriptive studies covering the time periods 1931-1999 and 1975-1999 respectively, revealed little change in response rates over time for postal mail surveys. Significant differences were found in comparative studies' response rates based on the academic area represented by the journal in which studies…

Most studies of mail survey methodology focus on specific design elements, but several major reviews of research have attempted to synthesize the findings of independent empirical studies. This study examined the review articles for what they have to say about factors influencing response rates and for their methodology. A literature review…

One approach to examining the findings of multiple studies is descriptive. This descriptive review of the research on increasing the response rates to mail surveys is based on studies also subjected to a meta-analysis. An initial narrative review identified the studies to be used in both analyses, and results will allow the possibility of…

Two investigations, each involving a survey of university alumni, found that questionnaire type font (conventional typewriter type and professional-appearing type) and construction (single pages, stapled, and booklet) did not have a significant effect on response rates. Other considerations that may influence questionnaire design decisions are…

One of the indicators of the health of an organization is the number of individuals participating in its annual meeting. Factors influencing meeting attendance and the relationships between positive attendance indicators and registration were studied for the Mid-South Educational Research Association, using participant data for 1984 through 1992.…

The research on response facilitation factors in mail surveys is reviewed, and background is developed to enable the comparison of results obtained by two analytic approaches, a descriptive analysis and a meta-analysis, using the same set of studies. Specific criteria for sample and methodology were applied to studies extracted from four CD-ROM…

This review focuses on the effects of multiple contacts with respondents on studies of response rates to mail surveys. After screening articles on research criteria, such as the presence of original research and sufficient reporting detail, 28 studies remained of the original 208 identified. The difference in response rate between treatment and…

As a predominant research method, the mail survey has been the subject of a considerable body of research. Several major reviews of research have been published that attempt to synthesize findings of empirical studies and identify techniques that stimulate responses. The review articles are examined, identifying procedures and potential…

The purpose of this review was to look for trends across time in response rates and variables studied for published mail surveys and to compare response rates and variables studied for different target populations. Studies were identified in databases in four fields: education, psychology, business and marketing, and sociology. A total of 225…

The potential effect of survey timing on information about teaching employment rates for teacher education program graduates was studied. It is possible that the low rates found by some surveys are more a result of the time of the survey than of low response rate. A secondary purpose was to obtain information about the hiring practices of school…

The influence of survey return rate and sources of information other than the survey on the teaching employment rate (as calculated) in the year following completion of a teacher preparation program were studied. A second objective was to investigate the tendency to respond for these individuals. A total of 291 individuals formed the target…

This study was designed to determine the extent to which the results of an employment survey of graduates of a teacher preparation program would have been affected by changes in response rate. At the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, a followup of teacher education program graduates is conducted annually. A total of 284 graduates of the 1992…

The cost-effectiveness and impact on response rate of variations in mailing procedures involved in a mail survey of teacher education graduates were assessed. Variables studied were use of a preliminary or advance letter, postcard versus letter reminders as the first follow-up mailing, timing of the reminder (1 versus 2 weeks after the first…