MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL AIR MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION
Emissions Inventory Improvement Program (EIIP)
Residential Wood Combustion Coordination Project
Distribution of a Survey Questionnaire
Typically, RWC survey questionnaires have been either mailed or completed by telephone interviews. There are strong arguments for each method.
Positive aspects of mailing survey questionnaires are: (1.) mailing survey questionnaires is normally cheaper to administer than telephone surveys, (2.) survey questionnaires can use graphics to explain possible answers and (3.) they are self-administered on a homeowner's time at their own pace. Negative aspects of mailing survey questionnaires are: (1.) the survey period is longer, often much longer, (2.) addresses change, meaning that more survey questionnaires need to be sent in-order to receive the required number completed and returned, (3.) incomplete forms can be unusable, (4.) administrators cannot ask questions to clarify answers, (5.) they bias results to people with interest in the subject and (6.) in populations with lower educational and literacy levels response rates are often too small to be useful. Response rates are often as low as 3%.
A way of mitigating low response rates when mailing survey questionnaires is to mail a postcard either before or after the survey questionnaire is sent (or both) explaining why it is important that the survey questionnaire is completed and returned. Unfortunately, this doubles or triples mailing costs. Another way to increase response to a mailed survey questionnaire is to use an incentive. One possibility is to offer to donate money to a charity specified by the respondent. Another is to include the people who return completed survey questionnaires in a drawing for a prize. A third is to offer a copy of the (non-confidential) result highlights to those who complete the questionnaire. Any of these techniques will increase the response rate.
