Most studies of mail survey methodology focus on specific design elements, but several major reviews of research have attempted to synthesize the findings of independent empirical studies. This study examined the review articles for what they have to say about factors influencing response rates and for their methodology. A literature review…

One approach to examining the findings of multiple studies is descriptive. This descriptive review of the research on increasing the response rates to mail surveys is based on studies also subjected to a meta-analysis. An initial narrative review identified the studies to be used in both analyses, and results will allow the possibility of…

The research on response facilitation factors in mail surveys is reviewed, and background is developed to enable the comparison of results obtained by two analytic approaches, a descriptive analysis and a meta-analysis, using the same set of studies. Specific criteria for sample and methodology were applied to studies extracted from four CD-ROM…

The suggestions offered in this paper are based on the experiences of two scientific researchers of how evaluations undertaken in a competitive arena, in which true experimental designs are not viable, can be designed in such a way that meaningful comparative data can be examined. Case studies of the Science and Engineering Research Semester and…