Clues to Reasons for Nonresponse, and its Effect upon Variable Estimates

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Abstract
From 17 recreation based studies completed over the past seven years, which have used similar mail questionnaire techniques, the authors have induced the effects of the topics of studies and their appeal to study audiences on return rates. Studies of more specific audiences who are particularly interested and involved in the subject of the study, studies involving specific resource areas, and studies which address an issue are shown to evoke higher response rates than those which are more descriptive in nature. Two of these studies are examined for the effects of nonresponse on survey results. It is demonstrated that nonresponse can strongly bias variable estimates, even when the rate of response is as high as 70 percent.

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