Mike Larsen, ASA SRMS
The ASA Survey Research Methods Section/American Association for Public Opinion Research webinar series is in its second year and going strong. The eighth, “Reconsidering Mail Survey Methods in an Internet World,” will be given by Don Dillman of Washington State University in April.
Coverage and response rate concerns make telephone surveys unacceptable for some uses. However, switching to the Internet is limited by the inability to use email contact for some populations and the reluctance of certain people to respond over the web. In this perplexing environment, the development of postal addressed–based sampling, which now provides better coverage than either telephone or the Internet, has generated renewed interest in mail survey methods.
Mail can be used effectively as a stand-alone data-collection mode. In fact, research has shown that mail-only surveys may now produce response rates higher than can be achieved by any other survey mode. Alternatively, mail can be used to encourage response over the Internet in mixed-mode surveys. Research also has shown that using mail to encourage response in certain surveys that use email contacts, but only allow Internet responses, may produce dramatic improvements in response rates.
Achieving positive results with mail requires thinking about it differently than in the past. Dillman will discuss why mail contact methods are effective in today’s survey environment and provide examples of how they can be used in situations in which email contact is not feasible (e.g., household surveys of addressed-based samples) or a prior relationship exists (e.g., clients or students). Emphasis will be on recent tests of these new implementation concepts for mail-only and mail+web surveys. In addition, research questions in need of answers will be articulated.
Dillman is a regents professor and the Thomas S. Foley Distinguished Professor of Government and Public Policy in the departments of sociology and community and rural sociology at Washington State University. He also serves as deputy director for research and development in the Social and Economic Sciences Research Center. Dillman is recognized internationally as a major contributor to the development of modern mail, telephone, and Internet survey methods.
Participants register for each webinar, usually lasting two hours, for a modest fee. Each registration is allowed one web connection and one audio connection, though multiple persons can view each connection. Handouts are made available a couple of business days before the presentation, and questions for the presenter can be submitted using the chat feature found on the webinar web page.
Information about the webinar, including registration information, can be found on the ASA’s website. Additionally, recordings of past webinars are available via the ASA’s LearnStat on Demand program.
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