Results of a study surveying 300 households suggest that mail survey researchers should consider using a "reasons for not responding" form because it increases responses to about the same degree as traditional followup procedures and it allows the collection of demographic information from nonrespondents. (SLD)

Examined characteristics of parents who consented, refused consent, or did not respond to an active consent request for their adolescent children to participate in a study of lifestyle behaviors. Nonresponding parents from the sample of 2,968 high school students were more similar to consenting parents than to refusing parents, a finding that…

Notes that while traditional survey literature has addressed three possible response behaviors (unit nonresponse, item nonresponse, and complete response), Web surveys can capture data about a respondent's answering process. Claims that, based on this data, at least seven response patterns are observable. Describes these seven response patterns in…

A controlled experiment is used in a survey of high school students to investigate the effect on response rates of prizes awarded for responding to a survey. (Contains 2 tables.)

This study assessed mail survey return rates published in seven general health education journals for the 13-year period, 1990-2002: "American Journal of Health Behavior," "American Journal of Health Education," "American Journal of Health Promotion," "Health Education & Behavior," "Health Education Research," "Journal of American College Health,"…

The purpose of this study was to test and assess the reliability and validity of a modified stress scale in a sample of pharmacy graduate students. The modified stress scale was used as part of a larger, nationwide, study whose aim was to investigate the association of stress, perceived academic success and health-related quality of life among…

Problems associated with low response rates to surveys are considered, drawing from the literature on the methodology of survey research. A series of analyses are presented which were designed to examine the efficacy of Astin and Molm's procedure to adjust for nonresponse biases. Data were obtained form the Cooperative Institutional Research…

The popularity of the sample survey in educational research makes it necessary for consumers to tell a good study from a poor one. Several sources were identified that gave advice on how to evaluate a sample design. The sources are either limited or too extensive to use in a practical sense. The purpose of this paper is to recommend six important…

Responses to a followup request for survey completion provided information about reasons for nonresponse by the target audience. Few studies of nonresponse have relied on reasons given by those who did not choose to respond; although not intentionally gathered, the data provide insights into nonresponse. An electronic mail survey was sent to 452…

This study presents a meta-evaluation of a beta-test of a customer service training program. The initial evaluation showed a low response rate. Therefore, the meta-evaluation focused on issues related to the conduct of the initial evaluation and reasons for nonresponse. The meta-evaluation identified solutions to the nonresponse problem as related…

This paper describes the strategies used at the University of Puerto Rico (Humacao) to overcome limitations resulting from a low response rate to their alumni surveys. Evaluation of earlier experiences with alumni studies led to identification of two principles for effective alumni studies: (1) the alumni study has to be a collaborative effort…

Three questionnaire mailings to 1,535 physicians that produced 977 responses were analyzed. The only variable significantly different across the mailings was medical specialty. This finding indicates that the more homogeneous the group the greater the response rate. Issues of nonresponse bias and insufficient sample size are discussed. (TJH)

A study of the use of verbal active parental consent, obtained via telephone, for drug abuse prevention research among 2,948 adolescents is reported. Using this approach as a follow up to mailings requesting written consent, researchers were able to contact a parent for 96 percent of the students. (TJH)

Given the weaker ties to community as noted by scholars such as Robert Putnam, survey researchers should not be surprised by a decline in survey participation over the past 10 years. This research analyzes the use of incentives coupled with introductory themes emphasizing cooperation and helpfulness--cooperative norms in American society--to…

E-technology as a basis of research is now being more widely considered as potential respondents can be drawn from an ever widening audience. Early work by others has shown that many respondents are keen to use the medium and that response rates are generally higher than by conventional approaches. This article summarizes the experience of…