A comparison of mail, telephone, and home interview strategies for household health surveys.
- 1 March 1979
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Public Health Association in American Journal of Public Health
- Vol. 69 (3), 238-245
- https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.69.3.238
Abstract
The method of data collection in household health surveys can be a major determinant of cost and data quality. A survey strategy can comprise mail, telephone, or home interview methods, individually or in combination to follow up non-respondents. The purpose of this study in Montreal was to compare cost and data quality of various strategies. Strategies which began with mail or telephone contact, followed by the two other methods, provided response rates as high as a home interview strategy (all between 80 and 90 per cent), for one-half the cost of home interviews when used as the sole method. The telephone response rate was higher than the mail response rate. Comparing different follow-up approaches to strategies beginning with mail or telephone, it proved less costly, and equally effective, to use home interviewing as a last resort for persistent non-respondents. Validity of response (comparing individual responses with records of a government health insurance data bank) and willingness to answer sensitive questions were greatest in mail strategy.Keywords
This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit:
- Self-administration of a questionnaire on chest pain and intermittent claudication.Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 1977
- An Investigation of Interview Method, Threat and Response DistortionJournal of the American Statistical Association, 1976
- An Investigation of Interview Method, Threat and Response DistortionJournal of the American Statistical Association, 1976
- The Role of Population Surveys as a Source of Morbidity and Other Health DataJournal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series D (The Statistician), 1972
- Comparison of personal interview and postal inquiry methods for assessing prevalence of angina and possible infarctionJournal of Chronic Diseases, 1972
- Effects of Question Length on Reporting Behavior in the Survey InterviewJournal of the American Statistical Association, 1972
- Effects of Question Length on Reporting Behavior in the Survey InterviewJournal of the American Statistical Association, 1972
- Methodological Bias in Public Opinion SurveysPublic Opinion Quarterly, 1972
- A Critical Comparison of Three Strategies of Collecting Data from HouseholdsJournal of the American Statistical Association, 1967
- A Critical Comparison of Three Strategies of Collecting Data from HouseholdsJournal of the American Statistical Association, 1967