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Telephone versus postal surveys of general practitioners: methodological considerations
B Sibbald1, J Addington-Hall, D Brenneman
1Division of General Practice and Primary Care, St George's Hospital Medical School, London.
Summary
Telephone follow-up surveys significantly boost response rates for general practitioners, reaching over 80%. However, this method may introduce social desirability bias in reporting counselling services.
Area of Science:
- General Practice Research
- Survey Methodology
- Healthcare Services Research
Background:
- High survey response rates are crucial for maintaining sample representativeness.
- Previous research indicates challenges in achieving adequate participation in postal surveys.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the feasibility of increasing response rates through telephone follow-up of non-respondents to a postal survey.
- To evaluate the impact of telephone administration on reporting of counselling services in general practice.
Main Methods:
- A postal survey was conducted with 1732 general practitioners, followed by telephone interviews for non-respondents.
- A separate random sample of 206 general practitioners received the questionnaire via telephone administration.
- Statistical comparisons were made between different survey administration methods.
Main Results:
- Telephone follow-up of postal non-respondents increased the overall response rate to over 80%.
- Practices initially contacted by telephone reported significantly higher rates of specialized counselling support.
- Postal non-respondents were less likely to report the presence of counsellors compared to those directly surveyed by phone.
Conclusions:
- Telephone administration effectively enhances survey response rates in general practice.
- A potential social desirability bias may be introduced when using telephone surveys to report counselling services.
- Non-response to postal surveys may correlate with lower engagement in the study's area of interest.