Data collection techniques: mail questionnaires

Questionnaire use, construction, content, wording, administration and pretesting are reviewed. Mail questionnaires gather large amounts of information at relatively low costs, but their design and administration affect the usefulness of the results. Many different aspects of a questionnaire survey will influence its effectiveness, including pre-contact and follow-up, cover letters, question sequence, and questionnaire appearance and length. The type of question to use depends on the level of measurement desired, suitability of the response form to the issue surveyed, and the ability of respondents to use and understand the response form. A small sample group should be used to pretest the questionnaire.