EFFECTS OF BENEFITS APPEALS, MANDATORY APPEALS, AND VARIATIONS IN STATEMENTS OF CONFIDENTIALITY ON COMPLETION RATES FOR CENSUS QUESTIONNAIRES |
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| Authors: | DILLMAN DON A; SINGER ELEANOR; CLARK JON R; TREAT JAMES B |
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| Institution: | This is a revision of a paper presented at the 1994 annual meeting of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, Danvers, MA, May 14, 1994. DON A. DILLMAN is professor of Sociology and Rural Sociology and Deputy Director for Research and Development of the Social and Economic Sciences Research Center at Washington State University, ELEANOR SINGER is a research scientist at the University of Michigan Survey Research Center, JON CLARK is chief of the Census Data Quality Branch, Decennial Statistical Studies Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census, JAMES B. TREAT is a mathematical statistician in the Decennial Statistical Studies Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census. This research was designed and conducted when Don A. Dillman and Eleanor Singer were temporarily assigned to the Census Bureau under Intergovernmental Personnel Agreements with their respective universities. Appreciation of the authors is expressed to Al Paez, Carol Miller, Henry Woltman, and many other Census employees who contributed to the design and conduct of the study. The views expressed in this article are attributable to the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Census Bureau, Washington State University, or the University of Michigan. |
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| Abstract: | 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. |
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