Comments on: The U.S. Makes-No-Census Bureau http://jameystegmaier.com/2008/12/the-us-makes-no-census-bureau/ Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:27:30 +0000 hourly 1 By: Bob http://jameystegmaier.com/2008/12/the-us-makes-no-census-bureau/#comment-359 Bob Fri, 05 Dec 2008 13:08:00 +0000 http://jameystegmaier.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/the-us-makes-no-census-bureau/#comment-359 Jamey, you're probably not in the target population for those second and third mailings. It's probably most helpful for those who are extremely busy, unaware, unorganized, or skeptical (or a combination of the above). Here's where I'd need more marketing/psychology experience to tell whether the extra mailings are effective. Or I could just BS, but I'm just waking up and it's not in me at the moment! Jamey, you’re probably not in the target population for those second and third mailings. It’s probably most helpful for those who are extremely busy, unaware, unorganized, or skeptical (or a combination of the above). Here’s where I’d need more marketing/psychology experience to tell whether the extra mailings are effective. Or I could just BS, but I’m just waking up and it’s not in me at the moment!

]]> By: Jamey Stegmaier http://jameystegmaier.com/2008/12/the-us-makes-no-census-bureau/#comment-358 Jamey Stegmaier Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:44:00 +0000 http://jameystegmaier.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/the-us-makes-no-census-bureau/#comment-358 Josh, you have an excellent point. And Bob, you have a good point, but I don't think it works here. You're saying that the return on investment in additional mailing is greater than if you only had one reminder mailing because you'll get a greater response. I contend that the additional mailings do not contribute to a greater response. If there were some sort of incentive to respond, yes, that would help, and maybe they could only send that incentive to people like me who don't reply right away (therefore cutting costs). But getting multiple mailings just annoyed me and made me feel like I was part of the waste instead of encouraging me to actually fill out the survey.<br/><br/>Here's the question, social scientist: How would you have done it? Josh, you have an excellent point. And Bob, you have a good point, but I don’t think it works here. You’re saying that the return on investment in additional mailing is greater than if you only had one reminder mailing because you’ll get a greater response. I contend that the additional mailings do not contribute to a greater response. If there were some sort of incentive to respond, yes, that would help, and maybe they could only send that incentive to people like me who don’t reply right away (therefore cutting costs). But getting multiple mailings just annoyed me and made me feel like I was part of the waste instead of encouraging me to actually fill out the survey.

Here’s the question, social scientist: How would you have done it?

]]> By: Bob http://jameystegmaier.com/2008/12/the-us-makes-no-census-bureau/#comment-357 Bob Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:16:00 +0000 http://jameystegmaier.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/the-us-makes-no-census-bureau/#comment-357 The question to ask is, is the greater survey response rate they get by sending three reminder mailings rather than one worth the cost of the two additional mailings. Why is that, you ask? In order to maximize the accuracy of the survey (and this is a pretty big and important one as surveys go -- a lot of researchers use it), the government needs to get as high a response rate as possible. Why? In the end, they have to estimate the characteristics of those who never completed the survey to correct for the non-response bias (those who didn't complete the survey are systematically different than those who did), and that degrades the quality of the results.<br/><br/>In fact, you could try holding onto the survey for a long time to see what happens. It wouldn't surprise me if you got a follow-up phone call or even a visit if you insisted on dragging your feet. They want your data! (Or the CSC's or whomever's it was addressed to)<br/><br/>Throw us social scientists a bone, eh? The question to ask is, is the greater survey response rate they get by sending three reminder mailings rather than one worth the cost of the two additional mailings. Why is that, you ask? In order to maximize the accuracy of the survey (and this is a pretty big and important one as surveys go — a lot of researchers use it), the government needs to get as high a response rate as possible. Why? In the end, they have to estimate the characteristics of those who never completed the survey to correct for the non-response bias (those who didn’t complete the survey are systematically different than those who did), and that degrades the quality of the results.

In fact, you could try holding onto the survey for a long time to see what happens. It wouldn’t surprise me if you got a follow-up phone call or even a visit if you insisted on dragging your feet. They want your data! (Or the CSC’s or whomever’s it was addressed to)

Throw us social scientists a bone, eh?

]]> By: Josh http://jameystegmaier.com/2008/12/the-us-makes-no-census-bureau/#comment-356 Josh Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:33:00 +0000 http://jameystegmaier.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/the-us-makes-no-census-bureau/#comment-356 This reminds me of last year when the Federal Government sent everyone letters to say "Your $600 tax rebate check is in the mail." Come on Government! JUST PUT THE CHECK IN THE LETTER! Don't send me two seperate things. That one letter alone cost something like $120 Million. This reminds me of last year when the Federal Government sent everyone letters to say “Your $600 tax rebate check is in the mail.” Come on Government! JUST PUT THE CHECK IN THE LETTER! Don’t send me two seperate things. That one letter alone cost something like $120 Million.

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