Face-to-Face Interviews and Mailed Questionnaires: The Net Difference in Response Rate

Abstract

THE PROSPECT of a high response rate generally has been considered a decisive argument in favor of face-to-face interviews, over mailed questionnaires. A review of methodology textbook summaries of the literature on survey response rates reveals, however, a variety of estimates of the typical response likely from these two traditional forms of data collection. Many texts caution against expecting mailed questionnaire response from a general population to exceed about 30 percent (Labovitz and Hagedorn, Abstract Traditionally, as reflected in methodology textbook reviews of the survey nonresponse literature, interviews have been thought to achieve substantially higher response rates than mailed questionnaires. The paper describes a correlational design for assessing the typical response difference between these two forms of data collection, after controls for other factors known to affect survey response. Attention is given to change over time in the response difference between interviews and questionnaires. In the primary data set, the net response due to data collection amounts to some 7.5 percentage points, in the middle (30-70) range of survey response. The analysis quantifies the decline over time in interview response, and shows mailed questionnaires to be free from decline. A second data set reproduces the essential findings.John Goyder is Associate Professor,

Responses to anonymous questionnaires concerning sexual behavior: a method to examine potential biases.

“…4 Recent random-sample anonymous mail surveys of sexual behavior in Scandinavia5,6 and Great Britain7 have had return rates of about 50% to 60%. If the sexual behavior of the group responding differs from the behavior of those not responding, nonresponse biases can affect the generalizability of the results.8 Users of such data often feel that data from surveys in which response rates are around 50% to 60% may be questionable, placing increasing authority on results from surveys with higher response rates.…”

A comparison of two modes of data collection. Using multidimensional analysis

“…more recent studies (voogt and saris 2005) ask whether the combined use of different procedures might bias the results. the starting point of their study is that non-voters (abstainers) are much more inclined (more willing) to participate in face-to-face surveys than telephone surveys (Biemer 2001;day et al 1995;de leeuw and van der Zouwen 1988;Goyder 1985;Hox and de leeuw 1994). other research has shown that face-toface surveys tend to increase (overestimate) socially acceptable responses (Presser and stinson 1998;sykes and collins 1988).…”

Incidencias de la entrevista personal en la investigación mediante encuesta

“…Otras investigaciones tratan de estudiar cómo la falta de participación afecta a la calidad de los datos (Groves y Couper, 1998;Cohen y Carlson, 1995;Groves, Cialdini y Couper 1992;Goyder, 1985).…”