A Survey of Seasonal and Permanent Landowners in Wisconsin's Northwoods: Following Dillman and Then Some

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Abstract
This article demonstrates the importance of obtaining high response rates for surveys of the general population while illustrating that survey design and procedures that adopt and modify factors known to positively affect survey returns can lead to high response rates, even for a lengthy survey of the general population. Using an expanded version of Dillman's “tailored design method,” we achieved an 82.8% response rate for a general population survey of landowners. When comparing early respondents to late respondents we found significant differences on several sociodemographic variables as well as a number of attitudinal measures central to the research project. In addition, costs are compared between this methodology and a more typical four-wave mailing. Our survey further highlights the importance of improving our understanding of the social changes taking place in rural communities and the implications these changes can have on natural resources management.