A Research Note On Successful Criminal Justice Survey Research: A "Personal Touch" Model For Enhancing Rates Of Return

• Author: Ken Peak
• DOI: 10.1177/088740349000400305
• Published date: 01 October 1990
• Date: 01 October 1990

268-2

A

Research

Note

On

Successful

Criminal

Justice

Survey

Research:

A

"Personal

Touch"

Model

For

Enhancing

Rates

Of

Return

Ken

Peak

University

of

Nevada,

Reno

Abstract

Survey

research

is

an

extremely

old

and

common

method

of

gathering

information

in

our

society.

Yet

many

attempts

by

faculty

and

graduate

students

to

gather

data

for

scholarly

research

will

fail

because

the

survey

component

failed

to

generate

an

adequate

data

base.

This

article

provides

a

total

design

model

for

maximizing

response

rates

in

survey

research,

using

techniques

which

have

consistently

helped

to

achieve

response

rates

of

from

50

to

80

percent.

Included

are

"personal

touch"

recommendations

for

questionnaire

construction

and

mailing,

and

associated

cost

factors.

A

matrix

is

provided

of

these

survey

methods,

as

are

caveats

for

researchers

seeking

to

survey

practitioners

in

"total

institutions"

where

social

intercourse

may

be

dis-

couraged

and

examination

difficult.

Introduction

A

faculty

research

project

or

doctoral

student’s

dissertation

is

unsuccessful

because

the

mailed,

self-administered

survey

instrument

failed

to

generate

an

adequate

response

rate

and

data

base.

A

municipality

in

Nevada

consistently

achieves

three

percent

response

rates

from

its

20,000

mailed

citizen

surveys

regarding

public

services

and

assumes

this

to

be

the

highest

rate

of

return

that

can

realistically

be

achieved.

A

university

school

of

business

in

Kansas

is

satisfied

with

a

four

percent

response

rate

from

a

survey

of

approximately

1500

retail

establishments.

A

United

States

Senator

polls

his

constituents

and

attains

a

four

percent

return,

saying,

&dquo;this

is

regarded

as

a

relatively

high

response

rate

for

a

survey

of

this

type&dquo;

(Babbie,

1989:

242).

Unfor-

tunately,

there

are

many

more

surveys

achieving

response

rates

of

10

to

20

percent

than

there

are

those

achieving

more

than

50

percent

(Bailey:

1987).

Survey

research

is

one

of

the

oldest

modes

of

observation

(dating

back

to

the

Old

Testament)

and

the

one

most

frequently

used

in

the

social

sciences