How to Conduct Self Administered and Mail Surveys

How do you decide whether a self-administered questionnaire is appropriate for your research question? This book provides readers with an answer to this question while giving them the basic tools needed for conducting a self-administered or mail survey. It also includes coverage on web-based questionnaires, and literacy and language issues. "The authors discuss self-administered questionnaires, the content and format of the questionnaire, "user-friendly" questionnaires and response categories, and survey implementation. They offer excellent checklists for deciding whether or not to use a mail questionnaire, for constructing questions and response categories, for minimizing bias, for writing questionnaire specifications, for formatting and finalizing questionnaires, and for motivating respondents and writing cover letters." --Peter Hernon, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Simmons College How do you decide whether a self-administered questionnaire is appropriate for your research question? This book provides readers with an answer to this question while giving them all the basic tools needed for conducting a self-administered or mail survey. Updated to include data from the 2000 Census, the authors show how to develop questions and format a user-friendly questionnaire; pretest, pilot test, and revise questionnaires; and write advance and cover letters that help motivate and increase response rates. They describe how to track and time follow-ups to non-respondents; estimate personnel requirements; and determine the costs of a self-administered or mailed survey. They also demonstrate how to process, edit, and code questionnaires; keep records; fully document how the questionnaire was developed and administered; and how the data collected is related to the questionnaire. New to this edition is expanded coverage on Web-based questionnaires, and literacy and language issues.

The authors of this volume show how to: develop questions and format a user-friendly questionnaire; pretest, pilot test and revise questionnaires; and write advance and cover letters that motivate and increase response rates. They describe follow-up procedures for nonrespondents from tracking to amount and timing of follow-ups, and demonstrate how to estimate personnel requirements and the costs of a self-administered or mailed survey. Also discussed is how to process, edit and code questionnaires, as well as keep records and fully document the development and administration of the questionnaire and the data collected with it.