The study examined (a) which single technique (cover letter sponsorship, personalization, anonymity, or appeal) is most effective in increasing response rates with mail questionnaires, and (b) which combination of these selected techniques is most effective in increasing such response rates. Questionnaires concerning faculty evaluation were sent to a national sample of professors. The present study found that identification of a university as the sponsor of the survey resulted in a significantly higher response rate than that obtained when the survey was sponsored by a private research institute. There was a significant increase in response rates when the cover letter was personalized, as opposed to an unpersonalized form letter. There were no significant differences in response rates attributable to (a) wether respondents were assured anonymity, and (b) the type of appeal used in the cover letter (personal or professional appeal). No significant interactions were found among any of the four techniques investigated. It was concluded from this study that judicious selection of the survey sponsor and use of cover letter personalization can improve the response rates of a mail questionnaire significantly, at least with the type of population and questionnaire significantly, at least with the type of population and questionnaire topic used in this study.

Although the primary role of the computer has been in processing and analysis of survey data, it has increasingly been used in data collection. Computer surveys are not exempt from a common problem: some refuse to participate. Many researchers and practitioners indicate the refusal problem is less for computer surveys, perhaps due to the novelty of the method. What has not been investigated is the refusal problem when on-line surveys are no longer novel. This research study examines the use of one form of computer-assisted data collection, the electronic or on-line survey, as an organizational research tool. The study utilized historical response data and administered an on-line survey to individuals known to be cooperative or uncooperative in other on-line surveys. It investigated nonresponse bias and response effects of typical responders, periodic participants, and typical refusers within a sample of corporate employees in a computer-interactive interviewing environment utilizing on-line surveys. The items measured included: participation, respondent characteristics, response speed, interview length, perceived versus actual interview length, quantity of data, item nonresponse, item response bias, consistency of response, extremity of response, and early and late response. It also evaluated factors reported as important when deciding to participate, preferred data collection method, and preferred time of display. Past participation, attitudes toward on-line organizational surveys, response burden, and response error were assessed. The overall completion rate of 55.7% was achieved in this study. All effort was made to encourage cooperation of all groups, including an invitation to participate, token, on-line pre-notification, 800 number support, two on-line reminders, support of temporary exit, and a paper follow-up survey. A significant difference in the participation of the three groups was found. Only three demographic variables were found to be significant. No significant differences were found in speed of response, interview length, quantity, item nonresponse, item response bias, consistency, and extremity. Significant differences were found in the perceived and actual times to complete the survey.

Many elderly patients visiting the emergency department for minor injuries are not assessed for functional status and experience functional decline 6 months post injury. Identifying such high-risk patients can allow for interventions to prevent or minimize adverse health outcomes including loss of independence. For the purpose of a planned clinical decision rule to identify elderly patients at high risk of functional decline a survey of physicians was conducted. A random sample of 534 Canadian geriatricians, emergency and family physicians was selected with half randomly selected to receive an incentive. A response rate of 57.0% was obtained with 90% of physicians considering a drop in function of at least 2 points on the 28-point OARS ADL scale as clinically significant. A sensitivity of 90% would meet or exceed 90% of physicians' requirements for a clinical decision rule to identify injured seniors at high risk of functional decline 6 months post injury.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Agricultural Economics / John A. Fox / Mail surveys are used to gather information in order to make inferences about populations. This study examines cost effective methods to maximize response rates to a mail survey. A consumer mail survey was developed and used to study consumer demand for safer foods. In addition, the study will verify if additional responses from follow-up mailings changes econometric analysis results, thus validating follow-up mailing costs. A test was created to maximize response rates and incentives were used in both mailings. An Ordinary Least Square (OLS) model was developed to analyze response rates and mail survey costs while a willingness to pay model and an ordered probit were used for the consumer demand analysis. Results showed that when a consumer survey was sent to a city within the school's state no incentive should be included while if sent to a city outside the school's state an incentive should be included. Moreover, if the outcome from the first mailing resulted in a low response rate a monetary incentive should be included in the follow-up mailing to increase response rates. Results from the consumer willingness to pay for irradiated salad greens showed that consumers are willing to pay higher prices for irradiated salad greens. Furthermore, results showed that there is no statistical difference between the coefficients, in both the willingness to pay and the ordered probit, from the model using additional observations from follow-up mailing and the model that included only observations from the first mailing. Even though coefficients were not statistically different in the ordered probit, significance of the marginal effects for some variables were different between models.

Many elderly patients visiting the emergency department for minor injuries are not assessed for functional status and experience functional decline 6 months post injury. Identifying such high-risk patients can allow for interventions to prevent or minimize adverse health outcomes including loss of independence. For the purpose of a planned clinical decision rule to identify elderly patients at high risk of functional decline a survey of physicians was conducted. A random sample of 534 Canadian geriatricians, emergency and family physicians was selected with half randomly selected to receive an incentive. A response rate of 57.0% was obtained with 90% of physicians considering a drop in function of at least 2 points on the 28-point OARS ADL scale as clinically significant. A sensitivity of 90% would meet or exceed 90% of physicians' requirements for a clinical decision rule to identify injured seniors at high risk of functional decline 6 months post injury.