The Effect of Advance Letters on Cooperation in a List Sample Telephone Survey

In this research note, we report the results of a fully randomized telephone experiment designed to test the effectiveness & consequences of advance letters as applied to registered voters. We extend the literature on advance letters for telephone surveys by assessing the impact of such letters in a political survey, & by using ancillary information not usually available in other experiments. The study, conducted in AZ, in the period preceding the state's 2000 presidential primaries demonstrated that notification letters can significantly increase response rates. By using a listed sample that contained key demographic & political characteristics of all sample units, we were able to compare the effect that the notification letter had on the cooperation rates of different types of respondents. Based on our results, it appears that men, younger people, non-partisans, & "non-locals" need different kinds of incentives than do women, older people, partisans, & "locals.". 3 Tables, 1 Appendix, 15 References. Adapted from the source document.