Response rate comparisons of e-mail- and mail-distributed student evaluations

The proliferation of electronic information delivery systems has led to increasing use of e-mail as a rapid method of gathering information. Little research has been conducted on the use of e-mail for collecting curriculum evaluations.

To compare e-mailed and mailed educational evaluations for 4th-year medical students.

Curriculum evaluations were sent to 4th-year medical students who were randomly assigned to receive the survey either by mail or e-mail.

Mailed evaluations yielded a higher return rate, fewer number of students omitting items, and shorter responses to an open-ended question than evaluations completed via e-mail.

Although the findings have limited generalizability because of low response rates and small sample sizes, the results suggest caution when using e-mail to collect curriculum evaluations from 4th-year medical students.