Accuracy of postal questionnaires

Accuracy of postal questionnaires.

Dear Sir, Having recently completed the data interpretation of a postal questionnaire of 'all' Otolaryngologists in the British Isles, we read with interest the recent correspondence on the subject of the accuracy of this means of gathering information. (November 1989, 1103), and of the validity of the numbers questioned and responding. Like the correspondents, we also had great difficulty in c...

Who responds to postal questionnaires?

Factors affecting response to postal questionnaires.

Epidemiological studies of chronic diseases often use data gathered individually from many persons, rather than remaining restricted to pre-recorded data. Generally this is done by personal interview, an expensive, time-consuming procedure. The increasing educational level and social consciousness of the population suggest that a carefully designed, highly objective postal questionnaire could s...

Increasing response rates to postal questionnaires: systematic review.

OBJECTIVE To identify methods to increase response to postal questionnaires. DESIGN Systematic review of randomised controlled trials of any method to influence response to postal questionnaires. STUDIES REVIEWED 292 randomised controlled trials including 258 315 participants INTERVENTION REVIEWED: 75 strategies for influencing response to postal questionnaires. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE The p...

Variations in general practitioners' response to postal questionnaires.

Postal questionnaires offer an efficient method of collecting information. They are cheap and relatively quick and can be widely scattered geographically. In approaching professional groups there are no problems of illiteracy or inarticulateness to set against these advantages. The main difficulty then is often the response rate. With general practitioners the problem of response is often thoug...