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Activity Number: 107
Type: Contributed
Date/Time: Monday, August 7, 2006 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
Sponsor: Section on Survey Research Methods
Abstract - #307198
Title: The Impact of Questionnaire Length on Economic Census Return Rates
Author(s): Diane K. Willimack*+
Companies: U.S. Census Bureau
Address: 5001 Regency Place, Alexandria, VA, 22304,
Keywords: establishment surveys ; response rates ; respondent burden
Abstract:

A recurring question in survey methodology is the effect of survey length on response rates. For self-administered paper forms, a common measure of length is the number of pages. The typical hypothesis is that response rates fall as the number of pages increases. This paper examines the effect of the number of questionnaire pages on response rates in U.S. economic censuses. Tailored by industry, over 500 different questionnaire versions have historically ranged from 2 to 16 pages in length. Due to extensive formatting changes, 2002 Economic Census forms ranged from 3 to 27 pages in length. As a result, survey managers were concerned that response rates would decline substantially. Considering the form as our unit of analysis, we used multivariate methods to determine if the number of questionnaire pages affected response rates differently for 2002 than it did in previous censuses.

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