Mail Surveys
Imagine that you are interested in exploring the attitudes college students have about writing. Since it would be impossible to interview every student on campus, choosing the mail-out survey as your method would enable you to choose a large sample of college students. You might choose to limit your research to your own college or university, or you might extend your survey to several different institutions. If your research question demands it, the mail survey allows you to sample a very broad group of subjects at small cost.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Mail Surveys
Strengths
Cost: Mail surveys are low in cost compared to other methods of surveying. This type of survey can cost up to 50% less than the self-administered survey,
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You have prepared a questionnaire that requires quite a few long answers, and since you suspect that the students in the dorms may not have the motivation to take the time to respond, you might want a chance to tell them about your research, the benefits that might come from their responses, and to answer their questions about your survey. To ensure the highest response rate, you would probably pick a time of the day when you are sure that the majority of the dorm residents are home, and then work your way from door to door. If you don't have time to interview the number of students you need in your sample, but you don't trust the response rate of mail surveys, the drop-off survey might be the best option for you.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Drop-off Surveys
Strengths
Convenience: Like the mail survey, the drop-off survey allows the respondents to answer the survey at their own convenience.
Response Rates: The response rates for the drop-off survey are better than the mail survey because it allows the interviewer to make personal contact with the respondent, to explain the importance of the survey, and to answer any questions or concerns the respondent might have.
Weaknesses
Time: Because of the personal contact this method requires, this method takes considerably more time than the mail survey.
Sampling: Because of the time it takes to make personal contact with the respondents, the universe of this kind of survey will be considerably smaller than the mail survey pool of