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Survey questionnaire salience.

Survey questionnaire salience. 1. Buhler-Wilkerson K: Public health nursing: in sickness or in health. Am J Public Health 1985; 75:1155-1 161. Karen Buhler-Wilkerson, PhD, RN Susan Reverby, PhD Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (Wilkerson); Assistant Professor and Director, Women's Studies Program, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA 02181 (Reverby) © American Journal of Public Health I believe our findings regarding mail survey design will interest the Journal readers. Previous studies report that the importance of the questionnaire topic to respondents may greatly improve return rates and item response rates in mail surveys." 2 Dillman indicates that front cover design, cover letter appeal (i.e., the first paragraph), and choice of the first question can convey questionnaire importance to respondents. The influence of these de- sign principles on response rates was examined in our study of how water fluoridation affects children's dental expenses. Two mail questionnaires and corresponding cover letters were developed. The first questionnaire was based on the study's purpose. A cover was designed with the title, "Water Fluoridation: Does It Affect Children's Dental Bills?," and portrayed a girl drinking from a fountain. A first question and the cover letter's introductory paragraph also conveyed this theme. Because fluoridation remains a hotly contested issue in some communities,3 we feared that the questionnaire's fluoridation focus might be too political, and that parents who opposed fluoridation might not respond. Therefore, a second, more neutral questionnaire and cover letter were designed around "cost-of-care" issues. The cover ofthis second questionnaire had the title, "Your Child's Dental Care: At What Cost?," and portrayed a girl sitting in a dental chair with a hygienist alongside. A parallel introductory paragraph and first question were developed. All of the remaining questions in the two questionnaires were identical. The Total Design Method was used in both questionnaires, except that a telephone follow-up was substituted for the last mailing. Each version was administered to a randomly selected pretest sample of 50 households from the study's population. The response rate for the (first) fluoridation questionnaire was 75 per cent, versus 59 per cent for the (second) cost-of-care instrument-a 16-point dif- ference (90% confidence limits: 0, 8, 31). Apparently, fluoridation is still an interesting issue in the eyes of the public, and this interest prompted more subjects to complete the fluoridation questionnaire than the cost of care questionnaire. Although based on small samples, these results suggest that researchers may boost response rates by manipulating a mail survey's theme (as conveyed by the questionnaire's cover, first question, and first paragraph of the cover letter). Experimenting with different themes and cover designs should be encouraged during pretesting. Rather than avoiding controversy, the results of this test suggest that capturing controversial issues in the survey's design (provided that no bias is conveyed) may actually improve survey performance. David Grembowski, PhD Research Assistant Professor, Dept. of Community Denistry, School of Dentistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195. Addendum: Prior to mailing the pretest questionnaires, Dillman and other consultants on the project predicted that the cost-of-care questionnaire would have the higher response rate. Therefore, these results are of interest because they run counter to our best, informed expectations. This work was supported by NIH grant DE06562. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png American Journal of Public Health American Public Health Association

Survey questionnaire salience.

American Journal of Public Health , Volume 75 (11) – Nov 1, 1985

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Publisher
American Public Health Association
Copyright
Copyright © by the American Public Health Association
ISSN
0090-0036
eISSN
1541-0048
Publisher site
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Abstract

1. Buhler-Wilkerson K: Public health nursing: in sickness or in health. Am J Public Health 1985; 75:1155-1 161. Karen Buhler-Wilkerson, PhD, RN Susan Reverby, PhD Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (Wilkerson); Assistant Professor and Director, Women's Studies Program, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA 02181 (Reverby) © American Journal of Public Health I believe our findings regarding mail survey design will interest the Journal readers. Previous studies report that the importance of the questionnaire topic to respondents may greatly improve return rates and item response rates in mail surveys." 2 Dillman indicates that front cover design, cover letter appeal (i.e., the first paragraph), and choice of the first question can convey questionnaire importance to respondents. The influence of these de- sign principles on response rates was examined in our study of how water fluoridation affects children's dental expenses. Two mail questionnaires and corresponding cover letters were developed. The first questionnaire was based on the study's purpose. A cover was designed with the title, "Water Fluoridation: Does It Affect Children's Dental Bills?," and portrayed a girl drinking from a fountain. A first question and the cover letter's introductory paragraph also conveyed this theme. Because fluoridation remains a hotly contested issue in some communities,3 we feared that the questionnaire's fluoridation focus might be too political, and that parents who opposed fluoridation might not respond. Therefore, a second, more neutral questionnaire and cover letter were designed around "cost-of-care" issues. The cover ofthis second questionnaire had the title, "Your Child's Dental Care: At What Cost?," and portrayed a girl sitting in a dental chair with a hygienist alongside. A parallel introductory paragraph and first question were developed. All of the remaining questions in the two questionnaires were identical. The Total Design Method was used in both questionnaires, except that a telephone follow-up was substituted for the last mailing. Each version was administered to a randomly selected pretest sample of 50 households from the study's population. The response rate for the (first) fluoridation questionnaire was 75 per cent, versus 59 per cent for the (second) cost-of-care instrument-a 16-point dif- ference (90% confidence limits: 0, 8, 31). Apparently, fluoridation is still an interesting issue in the eyes of the public, and this interest prompted more subjects to complete the fluoridation questionnaire than the cost of care questionnaire. Although based on small samples, these results suggest that researchers may boost response rates by manipulating a mail survey's theme (as conveyed by the questionnaire's cover, first question, and first paragraph of the cover letter). Experimenting with different themes and cover designs should be encouraged during pretesting. Rather than avoiding controversy, the results of this test suggest that capturing controversial issues in the survey's design (provided that no bias is conveyed) may actually improve survey performance. David Grembowski, PhD Research Assistant Professor, Dept. of Community Denistry, School of Dentistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195. Addendum: Prior to mailing the pretest questionnaires, Dillman and other consultants on the project predicted that the cost-of-care questionnaire would have the higher response rate. Therefore, these results are of interest because they run counter to our best, informed expectations. This work was supported by NIH grant DE06562.

Journal

American Journal of Public HealthAmerican Public Health Association

Published: Nov 1, 1985

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