Holly A. Hill
National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Laurie Elam-Evans
National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Cynthia Knighton
National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Chalanda Smith
National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Testing the Impact of Mail Materials on Web Participation in the National Immunization Survey
Benjamin Skalland
NORC at the University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Jacquelyn George
NORC at the University of Chicago
Vince Welch
NORC at the University of Chicago
Holly A. Hill
National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Laurie Elam-Evans
National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Cynthia Knighton
National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Chalanda Smith
National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Declining population coverage of the landline sampling frame, lower response rates on cell phones, and the geographic inaccuracy of cell-phone samples have made address-based sampling (ABS) an attractive alternative to random digit dialing (RDD) for surveys. In a web-first ABS design, respondents are invited to complete the survey online via a mailed invitation. The success of this design hinges on the ability to entice respondents to log on to the survey web site. As part of the National Immunization Survey-Child (NIS-Child) and the National Immunization Survey-Teen (NIS-Teen), which monitor vaccination coverage rates among children (19-35 months) and teens (13-17 years) in the United States, an evaluation was conducted to determine the mail procedures and materials that would lead to the highest web login rate. The analysis included 169,000 sampled addresses and examined the use of an advance postcard, the text and image on the advance postcard, the inclusion of a web instructions insert, the type of postage (first class vs. non-profit), and the use of a "last ditch" postcard. In this paper, we present the evaluation design, results, and recommendations based on these results.