THE IMPACT OF TOPIC INTEREST ON MAIL SURVEY RESPONSE BEHAVIOR

Many factors are believed to affect mail survey response behaviour and therefore create both non-response and response biases. The impact of one such factor experimentally investigated in the present study is the sample members' level of interest in the survey topic. The study verifies the dramatic impact that sample members' interest in the topic can have on response rates; sample members were almost twice as likely to participate if the survey dealt with a higher-interest topic than if the topic were of less interest. The study also investigated other response behaviour. That is, relative to lower-interest respondents, higher-interest respondents wer less likely to omit answers to specific questions, but did not differ significantly in the internal consistency of their responses, or in their speed of response. Specific recommendations are offered to help survey researchers address the survey biases associated with sample members' interest or disinterest in survey topics.