Findings from a Two-Phase Mail Survey for a Study of Veterans

• Activity Number: 570
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Wednesday, August 4, 2010 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Survey Research Methods
• Author(s): David Cantor*+ and Richard Sigman and Daifeng Han and Maribel Aponte
• Companies: Westat and Westat and Westat and Veterans Administration
• Keywords: Address-based sampling ; specific subpopulation ; response rate

Abstract

Address-based sampling has been used in response to the declining coverage and response rates of random digit dial surveys. Although mail surveys using address-based samples have emerged as a promising approach in general population studies, their usability for studying specific subpopulations is yet to be tested. This paper reports findings from a two-phase pilot study surveying Veterans as part of the National Survey of Veterans. The first phase was a mail screener sent to a nationally representative sample of 11,000 residential addresses selected from the US Postal Service address lists. The second phase was a topical questionnaire directed to the Veterans identified through the screening. The pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of applying two-phase mail survey design for Veterans and distinguished some factors associated with response rates.