Questionnaires return rates

Simeon et al. (1995) mailed questionnaires to 135 child psychiatrists in 43 countries to obtain more precise information on the views and approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of childhood psychiatric disorders. Of 43 questionnaires returned, data from 38 respondents representing 24 different countries were included. The study indicated that child psychiatrists in Europe and elsewhere outside the United States would use methylphenidate to treat 58% of ADHD patients, with their second choice being imipramine (18%), and 11% would not use medication. The investigators reported that one of the controversies that remained was the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD, as the prescription rates varied extremely from one country to another. In Italy, for example, the diagnosis of ADHD was rarely made and psychostimulants were rarely used. The authors concluded that the choice of medication was frequently restricted by lack of availability as well as by political or social attitudes (Simeon et al., 1995). 

The 110 out of 500 (22 per cent) who did return the questionnaire are a self-selected minority. We already know that they differ in one way — they did return the questionnaire, while the other 78 per cent did not. However, is this decision to complete the form just random or is it linked to other personal characteristics It would be a brave (foolhardy ) researcher who was prepared to assume that returning or not returning the questionnaire was a purely random choice. The reality is that there are all sorts of ways in which the returners may differ from the non-returners. With a return rate as low as 22 per cent, we could be dealing with a highly unrepresentative minority and any conclusions will be biased towards whatever type of person happens to be most likely to return our questionnaire. 

It is not enough simply to get an adequate number of completed questionnaires, it is also vital to obtain a satisfactory return rate. 

Show a high level of enthusiasm for your pet topic via a questionnaire with a low return rate... 

An appropriate sample size - number of completed questionnaires - should be calculated (as described in earlier chapters). It is not satisfactory to attempt to compensate for a low return rate by simply increasing the numbers sent out. That tactic risks a biased return. 

Low return rate can be a problem with questionnaires. Incentives can help. For example, those who respond can be promised a complete set of the results. In one effort, an excellent response rate was obtained when a few randomly selected respondents were given tickets to Disney World. 

Questionnaires Query large number of people regarding preferences for product s functions. Large population can be inexpensively queried. Low return rates and shallow nature of responses. 

Questionnaires can be quite useful for discovering problems that are not sufficient to prompt service calls. They also can be useful for uncovering problems with the service itself. If a record is maintained of all stakeholders, this population can regularly be sampled and queried regarding problems, as well as ideas for solutions, product upgrades, and so on. As noted before, however, a primary disadvantage of questionnaires is the typical low return rate. 

Sales reports Service reports Questionnaires Interviews Assess perceived viability of product or system. Assess typical problems and impact of solutions attempted. Query large number of customers and users regarding experiences with product. In-depth querying of small number of customers and users regarding experiences with product. The ultimate, bottom-line measure of success. Associate problems with customers and users and enable follow-up. Large population can be inexpensively queried. Face-to-face contact allows in-depth and candid interchange. Information on lack of sales due to problems is likely to be too late to help. May be too late for major problems and may not explain cause. Low return rates and shallow nature of responses. Difficulty of gaining access, as well as time required to schedule and conduct. 

Failure rate questionnaires were sent to 35 companies which operate LNG base loading or satellite facilities. These operators had previously expressed an interest in participating in the study. Twenty-five companies returned questionnaires which covered failures at 27 separate LNG facilities. Approximately 1,626,000 hours of plant operating time were represented by the returned questionnaires. 

A survey on the use of antidepressive agents by an entire country s child and adolescent psychiatric services was recently conducted in Denmark (5 million inhabitants) by sending a questionnaire to all child and adolescent psychiatric departments and specialists with private practices. The response rate from all in- and outpatient clinics as well as from specialists with their own practice was 93.5%. Thirty-two departments and specialists received the survey and 30 were returned. Practitioners were asked to go through their files and report the number of children on medication and the indications for the treatment. Altogether, approximately 5000 children and adolescents were in psychiatric care (out of approximately 1 million children and adolescents in the age group 0-19 years). Of these, 400 (8%) were treated with an antidepressant on the date of the survey (February 8). 

All enterprises which participated in the pilot projects were asked for feedback by means of a questionnaire, suppliers and users being questioned separately. In total 9 companies (5 suppliers and 4 users) returned replies, resulting in a response rate of around 30%. The evaluation was carried out separately for suppliers and users. Therefore no statistical evaluation in the narrower sense can be made, but nevertheless trends can be derived. 

Of 254 soldiers who were exposed to cannabinoids, 161 returned the questionnaire. This group, as a whole, had the lowest rate of admissions to Army or VA hospitals (Table 15). They did not appear to differ from the other groups in any way assessed by the questionnaire. 

Generally, 96% of the queiitinmnaires were filled out and returned. Deaths of participants were accurately ntonitored by a source of information, called the National Death Index, Over a 6-year period, 150 cases of colon cancer occurred. Of the 61 foods in the questionnaire, the strongest association with colon cancer was with beef, pork, or lamb (as the main course) (Table 11,3). All of the associations are expressed in terms of the risk ratio, A risk ratio over 1.0 indicates that indicated dietary practice is associated with an increased rate of disease, A risk ratio under 1.0 means that the indicated dietary practice is associated with a decreased rate of disease. 

Shannon et al. (1996) is an example of a study limited in both of these ways. It doesn t have any variables on employees involvement with the company s financial returns, and it doesn t present the results of the analysis in a multivariate ftamewoik. The researchers examine a matched sample of questionnaires sent to firms in Ontario with data on those firms lost-time frequency rates (equivalent to the analysis of claim frequency given below). Survey questionnaires include responses from both workers and management. The paper discusses only univariate statistical analyses that compare various workplace practices to whether a firm has a low, medium, or high claim frequency. A multivariate regression analysis is mentioned but not reported on in the paper. 

The survey was sent to each vessel in the shipping company by e-mail and distributed to the respondents in question. The completed questionnaires were returned by express mail. The managerial positions covered in the survey were Master, Chief Mate, Chief Engineer, First Engineer, Second Engineer, Second Mate, and Third Mate. The total response rate was 70 percent. 

A total of 987 questioimaires were distributed to 44 randomly selected vessels, of which 41 vessels returned atotal of768 completed questionnaires. This gives a vessel response rate of 93% and an individual response rate of 78%. AU vessels were flying a flag listed on the Paris MOU white or grey Ust. This survey forms part of a major safety culture survey carried out in 2006, performed with a vaUdated instrument (Oltedal, Engen, 2008). 

The data are obtained from the Dutch agri-food industry in 2002 and 2005 by means of a questionnaire survey. In order to increase the content validity, the questionnaires of both years were pre-tested with experts from business practice. If necessary, the questions were changed in order to increase a uniform interpretation of the used concepts. Only companies with more than 50 employees were included in this study. Their addresses and the number of employees were obtained from the Dutch Chambers of Commerce. In 2002, a questionnaire was sent to 355 companies of which 106 were returned. This equals a response rate of 29.9%. In 2005, 418 questionnaires were sent of which 100 questionnaires were returned, equaling a response rate of 23.9%. All the returned questionnaires could be used for analysis. In total, 23 companies were included in both years. In order to enable independent comparison between the sample of 2002 and 2005, they are included in the sample of 2002 (N=106) only and excluded from the sample of2005 (N=77). 

The total number of responding PS/RM and BS teachers in the four HS areas was N = 47, and N = 59, sampled from 15, 4, 8 and 3 of the eligible number of colleges. In this paper, only results from BS teachers of physiology (N = 35) are presented and discussed. The response rate of the PS/RM and BS teacher questionnaires was higher than for the HS student questionnaire 41-88% and 33-71%, respectively, were returned after two reminders. 

In total, 328 initial questionnaires were administered to all members of the nursing, surgical, anaesthetic and support staff, with 176 returns a response rate of 54 per... 

Three months after the training 346 safety attitude questionnaires were administered. At the time of writing there have been 41 returns (response rate of 12 per cent). Insufficient data are eurrently available to allow statistically valid conclusions to be drawn. Interim analysis suggests no significant change in the climates of safety or teamwork. Preliminary data are displayed in Table 19.2. 

---