A Comparison of the Viability of Mail Surveys in Japan and the United States

A comparison of response rates and patterns to a mail survey conducted simultaneously on random samples drawn from telephone listings in Seattle, Washington, and Kobe, Japan, is presented. When undeliverable surveys (those for which the intended respondent had moved or passed away) are subtracted from the original samples, a comparison of the differences in the response rate percentages for the two countries is found to be statistically insignificant. Adherence to the theoretical foundation of the Total Design Method is claimed to be the principal reason for success in achieving a higher response rate than predicted by Japanese scholars to the mail survey in Japan. These results show that there is potential for adapting survey research techniques developed in the United States to non-Occidental settings.