The Effects of “Preprinting” on Survey and Item Response Rates: A Research Note

AbstractInventories of recreation facilities are often conducted using mail surveys, which typically have low response rates. One potential way to increase response rates is to “preprint” the survey form with all previously provided information. To explore this potential, we examined the effects of preprinting on survey form and item response rates. Results showed that preprinting indeed increases response rates but may lower item response rates. These results suggest that recreation facility administrators need to balance the benefits of higher survey response rates against costs of lower item response rates when deciding whether to preprint mail survey forms.