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While mail surveys are common in many developed countries, it is still a new method in other, often less-developed countries. This study explores the feasibility of mail surveys in urban China. We conducted an experiment manipulating delivery method (regular mail vs. courier delivery service) and incentive payment (prepaid vs. no incentive) using an area-probability sample of 2,400 households in Shanghai. Concerns about the effectiveness of prepaid incentives in China arise given the prevalence of scams. Courier delivery is generally faster and more reliable than regular mail, but there was uncertainty whether courier could outperform regular delivery when recipients' name and contact information are unavailable. Findings show that mail surveys delivered using regular postal service with a prepaid incentive achieved the most cost-effective return per completed interview in Shanghai.

The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) have been carried out in over 90 countries since 1984, as interviewer administered household surveys conducted initially by paper and pencil interviews (PAPI). Computer assisted personal interviews (CAPI) were introduced in the 2004 Peru DHS, and since then numerous countries have also switched. However, DHS randomized mode comparisons have been limited. The 2018 Sixth Turkey DHS was conducted using CAPI but allocated one household from 21 in each of 754 clusters to PAPI. This analysis examines a wide range of potential differences between modes: interviewer attitudes toward modes; response rates, underreporting and misreporting of persons or events, number of selections to "check all that applies" questions, respondents' attitudes towards modes reflected by responses to sensitive questions, satisficing behavior such as age heaping, straight-line response patterns, and use of don't know options; and some operational aspects of modes such as retrospective monthly contraceptive prevalence rates, presence of others during interview, and interview length. Findings show that, despite strong interviewer CAPI preference, CAPI and PAPI were on average almost identical in terms of responses. CAPI took 11 min less (total duration of 33 min). Analysis of retrospective monthly contraception use indicated potential underreporting by CAPI for past use, an issue highlighted before in DHS literature. Overall, the switch to computer technology in DHS surveys does not appear to change estimates or levels of nonsampling errors, although some differences with respect to PAPI mode may need DHS designer attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher mortality rates in low-income groups may not be entirely due to a higher rate of risky behaviors. Researchers analyzed data from 3,617 men and women participating in the Americans' Changing Lives survey. Income was strongly linked to mortality, with the risk of mortality higher in low-income groups compared to middle- and upper-income groups. Even after accounting for risky behaviors such as smoking, alcohol use, a sedentary lifestyle and obesity, the low-income group still had higher mortality rates., Context.--A prominent hypothesis regarding social inequalities in mortality is that the elevated risk among the socioeconomically disadvantaged is largely due to the higher prevalence of health risk behaviors among those with lower levels of education and income. Objective.--To investigate the degree to which 4 behavioral risk factors (cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, sedentary lifestyle, and relative body weight) explain the observed association between socioeconomic characteristics and all-cause mortality. Design.--Longitudinal survey study investigating the impact of education, income, and health behaviors on the risk of dying within the next 7.5 years. Participants.--A nationally representative sample of 3617 adult women and men participating in the Americans' Changing Lives survey. Main Outcome Measure.--All-cause mortality verified through the National Death Index and death certificate reviews. Results.--Educational differences in mortality were explained in full by the strong association between education and income. Controlling for age, sex, race, urbanicity, and education, the hazard rate ratio of mortality was 3.22 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.01 -5.16) for those in the lowest-income group and 2.34 (95% CI, 1.49-3.67) for those in the middle-income group. When health risk behaviors were considered, the risk of dying was still significantly elevated for the lowest-income group (hazard rate ratio, 2.77; 95% CI, 1.74-4.42) and the middle-income group (hazard rate ratio, 2.14; 95% CI, 1.38-3.25). Conclusion.--Although reducing the prevalence of health risk behaviors in low-income populations is an important public health goal, socioeconomic differences in mortality are due to a wider array of factors and, therefore, would persist even with improved health behaviors among the disadvantaged. JAMA. 1998;279:1703-1708

We conducted a randomized experiment on a face-to-face interview survey in order to test the effects on response rates of a prepaid nonmonetary incentive. Results showed a statistically significant increase in response rates, mostly through reduction in refusal rates, in the half sample that received the incentive (a gift-type ballpoint pen) as compared with a no incentive control group. The effect appears to be due to greater cooperation from incentive recipients at the initial visit by an interviewer. Unexpectedly, the incentive group also showed a significantly higher rate of sample ineligibility, possibly due to easier identification of vacant residences or nonexistent addresses. In addition, evidence suggests greater response completeness among responding incentive recipients early in the interview, with no evidence of increased measurement error due to the incentive., Incentives have long been used in mail surveys to increase response rates, and their effectiveness has been well documented in the published literature. See, for example, qualitative literature review articles [...]

The focus of health research and health planning in the United States has shifted from extending life to helping people take care of themselves as independently as possible while living in the community. But with increased life span has come an increase in the incidence of chronic illness. One such chronic condition is arthritis. Arthritis is the most prevalent of the chronic conditions afflicting middle-aged and older Americans, and it is cited most often as the principle source of limitation in later life. To describe the characteristics of arthritis in the US, data pertaining to a sample of community-dwelling individuals aged 55 years and over were obtained from the 1984 National Health Interview Survey. Data were available for 16,148 people. This sample reported more difficulty in physical functioning, personal care, and performing household chores than nonarthritic people did. The most significant differences by far between arthritic and nonarthritic people were in the physical functioning category. Such routine tasks as walking, reaching, and stooping were reportedly difficult or impossible for arthritics. Physical activities requiring strength and endurance were reported to be particularly difficult. Other tasks, in the categories of personal and household care, were more easily accommodated for, suggesting that arthritics are much more able to offset their disease in these areas than they are in physical functioning. Therefore, while physical functioning may be compromised in arthritics, they remain socially connected and fulfilled in their general ability to continue caring for themselves. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

The increasing cost and decreasing coverage of Random Digit Dialing (RDD) landline telephone surveys motivated The Surveys of Consumer Attitudes (SCA) at the University of Michigan to conduct monthly experimental mail survey studies using address-based sampling (ABS). The primary objectives of the experimental studies were to evaluate the feasibility of transitioning the data collection operations from telephone to mail and to investigate differential survey errors between the two modes. Overall mail survey response rates were comparable to the RDD landline survey. Coverage improved using ABS, with more than 20% of the mail responses from non-landline telephone households not covered by the RDD landline telephone surveys. Mail survey respondents from households without landline telephones were more likely to be younger, have lower income, be renters and live in one-person households. There were no apparent measurement or reporting differences between the telephone and mail self-administered modes of data collection. Furthermore, inclusion of non-landline telephone households did not result in any substantial demographic or economic attitude differences between the two approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]