Authors: Emanuela Sala Peter Lynn
Publish Date: 2007/11/24
Volume: 43, Issue: 1, Pages: 123-136
Abstract
The aim of the paper is to compare two alternative survey designs in terms of resultant response rates non response bias and cost The first design is a simple postal survey with followup mailings the second design is a twophase multimode design where the postal survey is followed at the second phase by a telephone survey of nonrespondents We present a case study based on a survey of employers In this study we find evidence that the sample obtained using only postal methods is biased in important respects Bias is not apparent in the demographic characteristics of the employees But bias is observed in some of the employees’ employment characteristics and some of the characteristics of the firms in which they work The multi mode design seems overall to have reduced or removed the bias of the postal sample Only in marginal respects was some further bias introduced We also compare costs of the two designs to enable a comparison of costeffectiveness at bias reductionThis article is published under an open access license Please check the Copyright Information section for details of this license and what reuse is permitted If your intended use exceeds what is permitted by the license or if you are unable to locate the licence and reuse information please contact the Rights and Permissions team
Keywords: