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Web Survey Bibliography

Title Addressed-Based Sampling - A Better Sample? Exploring the Benefits of Using Addressed-Based Sampling in a State-Wide Targeted Sub-Population
Year 2012
Access date 30.06.2012
Abstract

As society changes, survey research changes. The declining number of landline-only households in the U.S. has complicated and raised the cost of conducting surveys by telephone. Gone is the near-universal access to residences and greatly reduced is the geographic precision that high-coverage telephone surveys once offered. However, advances in computing power and address-based data files have created an alternative method of sampling known as address-based sampling (ABS). ABS uses Delivery Sequence File (DSF) data from the U.S. Postal Service’s records of every address in the country that can receive mail. The quality of this national list has improved with the push for more automation and efficiency in mail delivery, the growth in geographic information systems applications, and local initiatives to enhance emergency services by assigning standard street addresses even in more rural areas. ABS boasts near-universal coverage and precise geographical targeting. Because ABS is relatively new and often used in mixed-mode surveys, describing its use is valuable. This paper describes a mixed-mode ABS experiment within a statewide survey about recreational activities and demand. The original sample contained 13,880 records and yielded 3,149 responses from 17 geographic strata. Data were collected by web and mail. Addresses were randomly assigned to one of four treatments: mail only, mail with web later, web with mail later and the choice of options offered up front. The response rate was much lower for the web-with-mail-later group. Nearly half of the responses in this group resulted from a single paper mailing. However, one-quarter of respondents from the two treatment groups offering the web mode early on used the web. Some substantive and demographic differences by treatment were observed, but were not problematic. A hybrid protocol – a web-first invitation with multiple postal contacts to nonresponders – might have reduced costs up to 15% compared to a postal-only protocol.

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Conference Homepage (abstract)

Year of publication2012
Bibliographic typeConferences, workshops, tutorials, presentations
Print

Web survey bibliography - The American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) 67th Annual Conference, 2012 (50)