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Return rates differed significantly across journals and increased from 1990–1995 (M=61.8%) to 1997–2002 (M=65.5%). Many published studies reported less than 50% returns (10–26%), and sample size showed no significant association with return rates. Return rates of 60% or greater are recommended, yet may still threaten external validity.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/mail-survey-return-rates-published-in-health-education-journals-an-issue-of-external-validity/592147/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/mail-survey-return-rates-published-in-health-education-journals-an-issue-of-external-validity/592147.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Grenda","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-10","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":14},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Which journals and years were included in the return-rate assessment?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The study analyzed return rates from seven general health education journals across the 13-year period 1990–2002.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What trend in mail survey return rates was found over time?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Published mail survey return rates increased from 1990–1995 (M=61.8%) to 1997–2002 (M=65.5%).",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How did sample size relate to published return rates?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"No significant association was found between sample size and return rates in the published mail survey studies.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},592147,1792679560,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":14,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":24,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},7971474921005,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","Mail Survey Return Rates Published in Health Education Journals: An Issue of External Validity  \nJames H. Price, Judy Murnan, JosephA. Dake, Jaime Dimmig, and Mary Hayes  \nABSTRACT  \nThis study assessed mail survey return rates published in seven general health education journals for the 13-year period, 1990–2002: American Journal of Health Behavior, American Journal of Health Education, American Journal of Health Promotion, Health Education & Behavior, Health Education Research, Journal of American College Health, and the Journal of School Health. A significant difference in mail survey return rates across the seven journals was found. Also, published mail survey return rates significantly increased from 1990–1995 (M=61.8%) to 1997–2002 (M=65.5%). All of the journals had published a noteworthy percentage (10–26%) of their mailed survey research studies with return rates of less than 50% . Finally, there was not a significant association between sample size and return rates of published mail survey studies. Researchers reporting mail survey research results in health education journals should expect to have return rates of 60% or greater. Yet, such return rates may still be considered a significant threat to the external validity of the findings.  \nSurvey research has many advantages, including convenience, efficiency, low costs, and adaptability. However, the competitive environment of all forms of junk mail attempting to get the attention of potential respondents makes quality survey research more difficult. Fortunately, the scientific base of survey methodology has expanded dramatically (p.6) over the past two decades (Dillman, 2000) . A variety of techniques have been studied to significantly improve return rates (Edwards et al. , 2002; King, Pealer, & Bernard, 2001) .  \nOneof the major methodological issues associated with survey research is external validity. External validity of survey results is concerned with the generalizability of the responsesofthe sample respondents to the population from which the sample was drawn. When researchers seek to maximize the external validity of survey responses, the researchers need to minimize the potential threats to representativeness. The first po-  \ntential threat to external validity is how representative the sample selected is of the population (Figure 1). Sampling error can be reduced byuseofan appropriate sample selection technique (e.g., random), making sure that the sampling frame does not omit members of the population, and by having an adequate sample size. Another form of this source of error would be when therespondents are not reached after being selected as members of the sample. Thus, they never have the opportunity to respond. The second potential threat to external validity of the survey is nonresponse error. The closer the return rate is to 100%, the greater the likelihood the responses will be representative of the population, assuming the sampling procedure resulted ina truly representative sample of the population. The issue is that those who do not respond to the survey may in some way be different from those who respond to the survey. Thenonrespondents maybe different from the  \nrespondents in that they may hold different beliefs regarding the topic of the surveyor they may differ in their demographic characteristics. The third source of error is item nonresponse error. This would include people who respond to the survey but systematically do not answer all of the  \nJames H. Price, PhD, MPH, is a professor of health education in the Department of Public Health atthe University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606; [E-mail: jprice@utnet.utoledo.edu. Judy](E-mail: jprice@utnet.utoledo.edu. Judy)[ ](E-mail: jprice@utnet.utoledo.edu. Judy)Murnan, MPH; Jaime Dimmig, MPH; and Mary Hayes are graduate assistantsin the Department of Public Health atthe University of Toledo. JosephA. Dake, MPH, PhD, isan assistant professor of health education in the Division of Health at Wayne","cbCaimtfEooDaoXu","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimtfEooDaoXu","pdf",68235,"English","# Abstract\n## Study scope and journal set\n## Key findings on return rates\n## External validity and threats\n## Survey methodology considerations\n## Sources of external-validity error","[{\"question\":\"Which journals and years were included in the return-rate assessment?\",\"answer\":\"The study analyzed return rates from seven general health education journals across the 13-year period 1990–2002.\"},{\"question\":\"What trend in mail survey return rates was found over time?\",\"answer\":\"Published mail survey return rates increased from 1990–1995 (M=61.8%) to 1997–2002 (M=65.5%).\"},{\"question\":\"How did sample size relate to published return rates?\",\"answer\":\"No significant association was found between sample size and return rates in the published mail survey studies.\"}]","Mail Survey Return Rates Published in Health Education Journals - An Issue of External Validity | PDF",1792073958,13]