INFLUENCE OF AN INVITATION TO ANSWER BY TELEPHONE ON RESPONSE TO CENSUS QUESTIONNAIRES

An experimental test was made of whether completion rates fora census questionnaire could be improved by offering the optionof calling a toll-free number and providing the requested informationto an interviewer as an alternative to mailing it back. Conductedon a national probability sample of house holds, five treatmentpanels were created to examine the effect of delivering, indifferent ways, the invitation to respond by telephone or mail.Offering such invitations did not improve completion rates exceptwhen included with a follow-up letter that did not also includea replacement questionnaire.     

EFFECTS OF QUESTIONNAIRE LENGTH, RESPONDENT-FRIENDLY DESIGN, AND A DIFFICULT QUESTION ON RESPONSE RATES FOR OCCUPANT-ADDRESSED CENSUS MAIL SURVEYS

An experimental study of alternatives to the current U.S. decennialcensus questionnaire shows that shortening the questionnaireand respondent-friendly questionnaire design improve response,whereas asking a potentially difficult and/or objectionablequestion, that is, social security number, lowers response.This national study of 17,000 household addresses also demonstratesthat relatively high mail survey response can be achieved withoutaddressing correspondence to individual names of residents.     

EFFECTS OF BENEFITS APPEALS, MANDATORY APPEALS, AND VARIATIONS IN STATEMENTS OF CONFIDENTIALITY ON COMPLETION RATES FOR CENSUS QUESTIONNAIRES

This study examines the effects of two different prominentlydisplayed appeals in combination with two different prominentlydisplayed confidentiality assurances on mail-back completionrates for census questionnaires. The experiment was carriedout on a national probability sample of 30,000 household units,using occupant-addressed questionnaires that contained the contentof the 1990 decennial census short form. Neither the benefitsappeal nor the variation between two confidentiality assuranceshad a significant effect on completion rates. The mandatoryappeal, however, significantly improved completion rates, evenwhen it appeared on the envelope only.