A postal questionnaire is just
a questionnaire which is
sent to respondents,
completed by them
and returned….
through the post.
This means that the researcher
is not present as the questionnaire is being
answered by the respondent.
The postal questionnaire
has the same advantages and disadvantages
of questionnaires…….
Can you remember
them?
….plus a few more which arise because of
the way it is delivered –
through the post.
and it’s not just that letters can get
lost…….
So,
Why use a postal questionnaire?
Postal questionnaires are a good method to
use if researchers need to contact a group
(a population) which is spread
across a large area
…or people who may want to
remain anonymous in order
to give information about
a sensitive subject
Because of these advantages,
postal questionnaires are used a lot in
medical research….
British Medical Journal
Researchers write papers like this…..
BMJ 2002; 324 : 1183 doi: 10.1136/bmj.324.7347.1183 (Published
18 May 2002)
Paper
Increasing response rates to postal questionnaires:
systematic review
Phil Edwards, senior research fellow phil.edwards@lshtm.ac.uk)a,
Ian Roberts, professor of epidemiology and public healtha, Mike
Clarke, associate director (research)c, Carolyn DiGuiseppi,
associate professor of preventive medicine and biometricsd, Sarah
Pratap, research fellowb,
Reinhard Wentz, information specialistb, Irene Kwan, research
fellowb
…or like this
J Epidemiol Community Health
2000;54:940–941
What are the characteristics of
general practitioners who
routinely do not return postal
questionnaires: a cross
sectional study
Nigel Stocks, David Gunnell
or like this…….
Author:
GRAHAM Candida R.; BANERJEE
Sube; GILL Randeep S.;
Title:
Using postal
questionnaires to identify
carer depression prior to
initial patient contact.
Reference:
Psychiatric Bulletin, 33(5), May
2009, pp.169-171.
…and all sorts of organisations – businesses,
government departments, councils, public
services like schools, the police,
the fire brigade – all of these may
find postal questionnaires a useful
way of gathering data.
What’s so good about postal
questionnaires?
Postal Questionnaires:
• are relatively cheap and quick
• avoid interviewer bias
• can be good to use when investigating
sensitive issues – respondents don’t feel
embarrassed
…and
• respondents can reply anonymously
• PQs provide results which can be easily
quantified and tabulated
• PQs are high in reliability
…on the other hand the perfect research
method has not yet been invented
Disadvantages
• PQs usually have poor response
rates
• the results can be biased – due to
selective response-those who
respond are untypical
• as no researcher is present to
explain the questions or prompt, no
clarification is possible
and one final disadvantage….
PQs – as we saw above have many of the
same problems as questionnaires
-as a positivist method, they lack
validity
But researchers sometimes try to fix
these problems – especially the problem
of low-response rates
Researchers concerned about low response rate can take
Several steps to boost response
• Keep the questionnaire brief
• Make the design attractive and easy to follow
• Provide a pre-paid envelope for easy reply
• Send out reminders
• Include a polite letter at the start
• Stress the anonymity of the responses
• Pay respondents or offer a cash prize (lottery)
But these solutions do not always work.
Payment is a particularly tricky issue:
Research in the BMJ in 2002 has claimed that
payment can
lead to doubling of response rate
Roberts et al in the Journal of Epidemiology
and Community Health, 2000, also found
payment helps
However ethics committees – in
medical settings and universities
are often disapproving of offering
financial incentives to respondents
It is seen as pressurising
respondents
• Researchers have to be pragmatic
• PQs have their uses
• Like many methods they can perhaps
be best used as part of a multi-method
strategy = triangulation