|
Advantages
|
Disadvantages
|
| Easy to administer- the
surveys need only be placed in the mail with a postage-paid return
envelope. |
Long completion time- Since
people can fill the survey out at their leisure, they often procrastinate.
Add this to the additional time for mail delivery and the result
is often 2 - 3 months from when surveys are sent out and when they
return. |
| Ease of data analysis- Scoring
and data analysis can be greatly simplified using scorable answer
sheets (e.g., scan-tron forms).. |
Respondent data errors-
If scorable answers sheets are used, a small percentage of data
will be unusable due to incorrectly completing the sheets. |
| Relatively inexpensive-
mail surveys have relatively minor printing and postage expenses. |
Lack of multimedia capability-
Many organizations want to use simulations or demonstrations in
their surveys, which is not possible in mail surveys. |
| No length restrictions-
Mail surveys can be as long as needed, unless participants become
disinterested in participating. |
Low response rate-
Mail surveys are plagued with an extremely low percentage of people
who mail back their surveys. |
| Ease in randomizing samples- Mailing
addresses can be randomly selected or even geographically stratified
to help promote a representative sample |
Biased sample- Response
rates for certain groups who agree to participate can be disproportionate
with the population. For example, people with lower educational
levels tend to respond less often to surveys than those who are
more educated, which may bias your sample. |
| Convenience- Participants are
able to participate at a time convenient for them as opposed to
a time selected by the surveyor. |
Reluctance to participate- With
the amount of telemarketing calls people receive, there is an automatic
resistance to participate in phone surveys. |
