Expected yield rates are essential to a survey's data collection plan, as they inform requisite sample sizes to meet the survey's objectives. Given an overall expected yield rate for a self-administered mail survey, this short take describes a simple method for using the Census Planning Database to assign differential yield rates to lower-level…

Best practices in mail survey design advise personalizing correspondence, but most research predates the use of address-based sampling (ABS) in which a householder's name either cannot be matched to an address or may be matched incorrectly. Further, recent evidence casts doubt on the effectiveness of personalization. The current study examines the…

This article tackles the question whether it is a viable strategy to conduct online surveys among university students in developing countries. By documenting the methodology of the National Service Scheme Survey conducted in Ghana, we set out to answer three questions: (1) How can a sample of university students be obtained? (2) How can students…

Representing isolated small island communities through social survey research continues to be challenging. We examine a locally developed method to reach and recruit older people (65+ years) for a survey on well-being in the small island developing state of Maldives. The use of messengers to recruit participants is examined in the context of these…

Although researchers can easily select probability samples of addresses using the U.S. Postal Service's Delivery Sequence File, randomly selecting respondents within households for surveys remains challenging. Researchers often place within-household selection instructions, such as the next or last birthday methods, in survey cover letters to…