The Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation Survey (FHWAR) team incorporated a mixed mode design for the 2011 survey out of necessity. In the past, FHWAR was an all computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI) survey, but recent budget restrictions have significantly reduced, and will continue to reduce, the ability to conduct interviews through CAPI. In 2011, the survey design was changed to incorporate the less expensive interviewing method, computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI). CAPI interviews usually result in a higher response rate; this was the case for 2011 FHWAR interviewing. Due to low contact rates in the initial CATI, emergency design changes had to be implemented. Because of these changes, CAPI, CATI, or a mixture of both were used to contact individual cases.

The FHWAR team studied the response rates and participation rates by data collection mode: CAPI, CATI, or a combination of the two. The complex survey design includes weights, strata, and clusters; all used to calculate response rates and the estimates of wildlife participation in the United States of America by collection mode. Results show CAPI produced better response rates but lower proportions of wildlife participation. Mixed mode data collection has the potential to improve future FHWAR sampling designs by increasing response rates and finding a higher proportion of wildlife participants.