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- Title
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE STUDY OF MAIL-BACK BIAS.
- Authors
Kivlin, Joseph E.
- Abstract
The problem of partial returns to mailed questionnaires is a recurring one. This problem is often referred to as mail-back bias, a convenient term which will be used here. The problem of bias occurs, in part, because questionnaire returnees are self-selected and thus are not likely to be representative. Checking for representativeness on the research variable in a study by means of interviewing a probability sample of nonrespondents may be ruled out by limited time and funds and may, of course, simply confirm mail-back bias. This study, based upon an almost complete enumeration of nonrespondents to a mailed questionnaire, develops four propositions about mail-back bias, mail-back bias continues to exist as a major area of concern to the researcher, mail-back bias may exist as a broad, uniform factor which cuts across other variables in such a way that relationships among them are not disturbed, differences between early and late returns tend to be indicative of differences between respondents and nonrespondents and mail-back bias may be used to advantage.
- Subjects
LETTER services; QUESTIONNAIRES; INTERVIEWING; PROBABILITY theory; RESPONDENTS
- Publication
Rural Sociology, 1965, Vol 30, Issue 3, p322
- ISSN
0036-0112
- Publication type
Article