UNDERSTANDING THE DECISION TO PARTICIPATE IN A SURVEY

The lack of full participation in sample surveys threatens theinferential value of the survey method. We review a set of conceptualdevelopments and experimental findings that appear to be informativeabout causes of survey participation; offer an integration ofthat work with findings from the more traditional statisticaland survey methodological literature on nonresponse; and, giventhe theoretical structure, deduce potentially promising pathsof research toward the understanding of survey participation.     

USING DUAL FRAME DESIGNS TO REDUCE NONRESPONSE IN TELEPHONE SURVEYS

This article reports on the results of a series of experimentsdesigned to improve response rates for telephone surveys. Inthree surveys telephone households were selected using bothstandard random digit dialing (RDD) techniques and lists oftelephone numbers purchased from a commercial firm. In the RDDportions of the samples "cold contact" interviewing methodswere used; in the list frame portions advance letters were mailed,and the listed household name was used in the introduction.Experiments were designed to test the effects on response ratesof the advance letters and use of the listed household nameas a means of establishing rapport. The advance letters increasedresponse rates, but no difference could be attributed to theuse of names. The mixture of RDD and list sampling techniquesis also used to evaluate the effects of relative response rateson substantive findings. The cost consequences of these dualframe designs are assessed along a number of dimensions, andthe cost and error components of these designs are discussed.     

Actors and Questions in Telephone and Personal Interview Surveys

This paperconcentratesontwoaspectsof telephone survey administration:(1) the respondent's reactions to the request for an interviewand to the interview itself, and (2) the properties of questionsusing response cards in personalinterviews and adaptations ofthese questions for telephone use.     

Increasing Response Rates to Telephone Surveys: A Door in the Face for Foot-in-the-Door?

Several experimental studies have noted heightened cooperationwith a request for those who initially are given a smaller request.The technique, labeled the foot-in-the-door procedure, is appliedto a telephone survey design which asks two questions of samplehouseholds in a call prior to the contact requesting the fullinterview.