An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Drop-Off Questionnaire Delivery

For lengthy questionnaires, personal delivery by lightly trained survey takers appears to yield higher response rates than mail surveys at competitive costs and provides for more precisely controlled samples and clearer identification of the nature of nonresponse bias.

Abstract

Personal delivery (and collection) of self-administered questionnaires is evaluated in comparison with alternative methods of obtaining information from respondents. For lengthy questionnaires, personal delivery by lightly trained survey takers appears to yield higher response rates than mail surveys at competitive costs; it also provides for more precisely controlled samples and clearer identification of the nature of nonresponse bias. This method is particularly appropriate for conducting detailed surveys of consumer attitudes and behavior patterns in an era of rapidly rising postage costs.