Open AccessFactors Affecting Response Rate and Response Speed in a Mail Survey of Part-Time University Students
Author(s) -
Gwenna Moss
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
canadian journal of higher education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2293-6602
pISSN - 0316-1218
DOI - 10.47678/cjhe.v11i2.182838
Subject(s) - response time , direct response , medicine , psychology , computer science , computer graphics (images) , social marketing , pathology
This paper reports the results of an experiment to determine the effects of questionnaire format, reminder format, and followup format on both response rate and response speed in a mail survey. Complete responses were received from 2212 of a sample of 2638 part- time university students, a rate of 83.8%. Mean response time was 16.09 days. Results indicated that: (1) typeset questionnaires were more effective than photocopied question- naires in terms of both response rate and speed; (2) the use of reminder postcards signifi- cantly increased both rate and speed; (3) there was no advantage in hand-addressed reminders over computer-produced labels; and (4) sending a replacement questionnaire as opposed to only a followup letter did not significantly increase response rate, but follow- up format interacted with questionnaire format in influencing response speed.