Affiliation, Urban Size, Urgency, and Cost of Responses to Lost Letters

A study using 420 “lost letters” was designed to test the hypothesis that returned responses would be larger from small towns than from suburbs or cities unless the addressee was affiliated with a nonpolitical group. Percent returns to control, Pesticide Action Network, Immigration Law Enforcement Monitoring Project, Network for the Enforcement of Humane Immigrant and Refugee Rights, and the KlanWatch affiliates were 60.7%, 59.5%, 56.0%, 44.0%, and 36.9%, respectively. Responses from the city were generally fewer than those from suburbs except for Pesticide or Immigration Law affiliations. Urban responses were always fewer than those from small towns. Urgency and cost did not influence returns. The lost letter technique seems suitable as a research tool for inferring public opinion toward nonpolitical, emotionally subtle social issues.