Why conducting surveys via the mail is problematic?

Answer 1

There was a time when audience research was done almost exclusively by using mailed in surveys. In the first three decades of radio, for example, such surveys were very popular, and their results were considered to be reliable. But today, researchers have many questions about mailed-in surveys. Let me use radio as an example and give the three biggest problems:

1. You don't get a truly random sample, since many people will not return the survey at all. And those who do return it may not represent the typical listener. People who tend to return surveys are called "active" listeners-- these are people who enter contests, call stations to make requests, and take an active role in engaging with their favorite stations. Actives are only a small percentage of the audience, most of whom rarely call or write or express their opinion to you directly.

2. Mailed-in surveys cannot be verified. They rely on "self-reporting." The person sending back the survey may say they listened only to station WXXX, but there is no way to check and see if that's true, or if that is the only station the person could remember.

3. Mailed-in surveys may not give you an accurate picture of your audience. In order to have unbiased results, you need a random sample of respondents, and one that includes a cross-section of people who listen to your station (men as well as women, people of the majority and minority racial groups, etc). With a mail-in survey, if most of the people who send it back are from only one race or gender or ethnic group, you will get skewed results. Also, if only a small number of people return the survey, that can also skew your results, since a small sample size is often not reliable.

It is always better to engage directly with the people you are surveying, whether by conducting focus groups where you sit in a room and ask questions of the participants; or by using an electronic device that monitors the choices of stations the person is making; or by some other method that gets you a random sample, and makes certain the sample includes a cross-section of the population. Whether you are surveying for a radio station or for a restaurant, a political candidate, or a product, the key to good research is obtaining a good sample. Relying on people sending back a survey will not usually get you the kind of sample you need.

Answer 2

Conducting surveys via mail can be problematic because of potential issues such as low response rates, longer processing times, and greater costs associated with printing and postage. Additionally, there is a risk of surveys being lost in the mail or not reaching the intended recipients.