Physician Responses to Multiple Questionnaire Mailings

Homogeneous groups surveyed about issues of concern to them may require few follow-ups because respondents provide role-specific answers representative of others in that role. The authors analyzed three questionnaire mailings to 1,535 physicians that produced 977 responses (604 first, 252 second, and 85 third mailing). The only demographic or substantive variable significantly different between mailings was medical specialty. This supports the hypothesis that surveys of homogeneous groups, such as physicians in one specialty, may require fewer follow-up efforts. However, using few follow-ups must be done cautiously to avoid nonresponse bias and insure sufficient sample size.