Initial returns on mail questionnaires: A literature review and research note

The effects of method of reproduction, status of researcher, and personalization of signature on the initial rate of return of mail questionnaires were investigated, using a one-page combination cover letter and questionnaire mailed to 600 professors at the University of Maryland, College Park. The levels of each experimental variable were: Status — professor, graduate student; signature — hand signed in ink, mimeographed facsimile; reproduction — typed, photocopied, mimeographed.A response rate of 69% was obtained without using any follow-up procedures. Chi square analyses indicated no significant differences in the rate of returns for the levels of any of the experimental variables.It appears that initial return rate will not be significantly affected by using the most efficient, least expensive method available.     

Returns to formal and informal vocational education in Côte d'Ivoire: The role of the structure of the labor market

This paper compares graduates of the formal vocational and technical education (VTE) system in Côte d'Ivoire with those of informal apprenticeships, in terms of access to jobs, earnings, and the internal rate of return to investment in education. The structure of the labor market is explicitly considered in the analysis and the selection process into each segment is modelled. It is found that formal and informal VTE are not substitutes but prepare people for different careers. Within the “optimal” career path, each type of VTE carries similar returns. Promotion of informal VTE could increase society's returns to educational expenditures and contribute to realizing the employment creation potential of the informal sector.     

Are There Economic Incentives for Non‐Traditional Students to Enter HE? The Labour Market as a Barrier to Widening Participation

The expansion of higher education (HE) in the UK has disproportionately benefited young people from relatively rich families: the gap between rich and poor in terms of participation in HE having widened since the 1970s. We explore a neglected possible cause of this class difference: that the labour market fails to provide sufficient incentives for potential entrants from less advantaged backgrounds to enter HE. Most studies of the rewards from participating in HE in the UK suggest that the rates of returns are sufficiently high to provide clear economic incentives to participate. However, until recently, most studies generated estimates of the average rate of return to graduation, which could overestimate returns to marginal entrants, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. In this review we examine the methodological problems faced by more targeted studies of the rates of return to graduation and review their key findings concerning the economic returns to non‐traditional entrants.     

Gender and behavioural differences in Kuwait primary schools

Previous studies have found significant differences between the classroom behaviour of boys and girls. Most are within a single broad cultural context and little work has been done within an Arabic/Kuwaiti one. The main aim was to investigate the differences in behaviour between boys and girls in Kuwait primary schools. Data were collected that provided comparisons across questionnaires between parent and teacher returns for over 430 students. Separate teacher observations of students (n = 671) and classroom researcher observations were also obtained. Significant differences were found across the scales, indicating higher levels of externalising misbehaviour among boys than girls. A comparison with three studies conducted in other cultural contexts using the same strengths and difficulties instrument as used in this study found similarities and differences in results between the behaviour of boys and girls.     

Cost-effectiveness of differential techniques for mail questionnaires

As part of a follow-up study of a national sample of 59,000 freshmen who enrolled in colleges or universities in the fall of 1966, 14 random samples of approximately 1000 students each were assigned to various mail survey techniques. Cost and response rate data were examined to determine the relative cost-effectiveness of the techniques. The results indicated that use of nonprofit outgoing postage, window envelopes, and business reply returns lowered the costs per contact and did not significantly impair rate of return. Use of a second-wave questionnaire was a very effective technique for increasing the response rate.Data collection for this project was supported by NSF #R000101 and NIH #OD 72-2029. Partial support for the analysis was provided by NSF-C741.     

Public spending on higher education in developing countries: Too much or too little?

This paper discusses problems with the prevalent view that public resources for education in developing countries should be reallocated from higher to lower levels of education. There may be a case for maintaining and even increasing spending on higher education, as long as public funds can be directed to research and other “public good” functions of institutions of higher education. Current measures of social returns to primary, secondary and higher education do not reflect unmeasured social benefits at each level; since we do not know the relative size of these benefits across levels, we do not know the true ranking of social returns across primary, secondary and higher education. The true social rate of return to certain components of higher education, such as research and postgraduate training in science and technology, and creation of other skills where social returns probably exceed private returns (such as public administration) is probably high, and in some settings, may now be as high or higher than the social rate of return to primary and secondary education. Moreover, achieving and sustaining adequate levels of quality to capture these social returns requires minimal stability in public financing, arguing against major reallocations away from higher education. But this does not argue for more public spending on all higher education programs. On the contrary; within the envelope of total public spending on higher education, reallocation away from public spending on undergraduate training makes sense, since such training probably has low social compared to private returns, and can be accomplished by greater reliance on private universities and by increasing tuition and other fees in public universities, while ensuring equitable access through loan and scholarship programs.     

Class-of-Mail and the Effects of Monetary Gratuity on the Response Rates of Mailed Questionnaires

In two separate studies, class-of-mail had no significant effect on return rate of mailed questionnaires. Return rates increased markedly (almost doubled) when a $1.00 gratuity was included in the first-class mailing.     

Surveying alumni by mail: Effect of booklet/folder questionnaire format and style of type on response rate

Current technology makes it possible to develop survey instruments with a professional appearance at a much lower cost than in the past. Type fonts resembling those that are typeset can be produced in varying sizes on personal computers. Photocopy equipment can reproduce questionnaires of varying page sizes, and sometimes collate, fold, and staple them automatically into booklets. The purpose of this research was to determine whether the use of professional-appearing type and/or booklet construction in questionnaires effected higher response rates than conventional typewriter type and single pages of questions stapled in the corner. Two investigations were conducted, each involving a survey of university alumni. Using split-sample procedures, questionnaire type font and construction were not found to have significant impact on response rates. Other considerations that may influence questionnaire design decisions are discussed in light of these findings.     

普通话态度语音的感知实验研究

在言语交际中,说话人的情绪(emotions)属于不自主控制的潜在的心理状态,而说话人表达的态度(attitudes)或者称社会情感(social affects)则是说话人自主控制的。本文通过听辨实验,研究了中国人对普通话19类态度语音的感知特性。实验采用条件受控的语音语料,考察了态度类别、话语长度、听辨人性别这三个因素对态度辨识率的影响,以及不同态度类别在听感上的混淆模式与聚类关系。实验结果表明,普通话态度语音的辨识率总体上高于机遇水平,其中"陈述"和"失望"的辨识率最高,"自信"的辨识率最低。态度类别的主效应、态度类别与话语长度的交互效应,是影响态度辨识率的主要因素。基于听辨混淆模式进一步做层次聚类分析后发现,19种态度从语音感知上可大体聚类为7组,同组内的态度在认知上表现出一定的关联性。     

Perceived rates of return to higher education: Further evidence from Cyprus

The paper provides new estimates of the perceived rates of return to higher education in Cyprus and compares them to previous estimates for the year 1994 in the same country. Both the elaborate and the short-cut methods are used in the estimation of rates of return. The estimated rates are entered as independent variables in logistic regression analysis in order to study the effect of economic considerations on the decision of secondary school students to pursue higher education. The findings show an increase in the perceived rate of return for both higher education and labour market entrants. In agreement with human capital theory, the mean rate of return to higher education expected by higher education candidates is considerably higher than that expected by labour market entrants. In two logistic regression models, the perceived rate of return to higher education, as estimated by both the elaborate and the short-cut methods, has a significant effect on the students’ intention to pursue higher studies.     

The private returns to education in rural Bangladesh

This study estimates the private average rate of return (ARR) and internal rate of return (IRR) to education in rural Bangladesh. Using data from the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS) 2015, we estimate average returns using the Mincerian method and IRR using the full method, accounting for both the direct and indirect costs of schooling. To account for endogeneity and selection bias, we use parental education as an instrumental variable and apply the Heckman correction method. We find an average return of 18 %, an IRR of 12 % for tertiary education, 4.86 % for secondary, and 5.24 % for primary. In the agricultural sector specifically, however, returns to tertiary education are more in line with primary and secondary education.     

Secondary Vocational Education and Earnings in Latin America[1]

ABSTRACT

Household survey data for II Latin American countries are used to assess earnings differentials by type of secondary education during the late 1980s. Introduction of the cost of the curriculum allows for the estimation of private and social rates of return to investment in education by type of secondary school curriculum. The paper documents mixed results. In some countries the private returns to vocational schooling are higher than the returns to general secondary schooling. Introducing differential cost of curriculum and estimating social returns to schooling results in much lower returns to vocational schooling.

     

Portable computers for teachers and support services working with pupils with Special Educational Needs: An evaluation of the 1999 United Kingdom Department for Education and Employment scheme

This study arose from the distribution of portable computers ("portables") to special educational needs coordinators and support services by the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) through Standards Grant 36 in mid 1999. The study comprised two successive questionnaires. The aim of the surveys was to elicit the benefits of portables in relation to the special educational needs coordinator/support service roles as well as to evaluate this process of distributing resources.
Questionnaire A to local education authorities (LEAs) was returned by 96 LEAs (a 64% return rate). There were 778 returns of questionnaire B from recipients of portables and 405 returns from the matched group of non-recipients.
Overall the distribution of portables under this grant was well-regarded by LEA personnel, particularly in the smaller authorities, with reservations relating mainly to the lack of time to administer the scheme. The guidance from the DfEE was regarded as helpful with inherent (valued) flexibility. Amount and level of training appeared to have varied greatly across LEAs but where training had been relatively substantial there was evidence of its impact on teachers' reported use of the portables. The scheme was welcomed by school and, particularly, support service staff. However all recipient groups tended to reflect some disappointment with what the portable provided in practice.
Three particular aspects are discussed in more detail. First, in relation to time and workload issues, it was reported that teachers were spending considerable "non work" time in learning to make good use of the portables. Second, there were considerable training needs for teachers and others, spanning a wide range of levels. Third, the position of support service staff warranted more attention as their apparently comparatively disadvantageous position has implications for wider changes concerning centralised LEA, as opposed to school-based, resources.     

Maximizing responses to a nationwide faculty survey

Using on-campus facilitators to distribute and retrieve an 11-page questionnaire administered to a nationwide sample of humanities faculty and nonhumanities department chairmen in two-year colleges resulted in an 84% return rate. The 2,000 subjects were drawn from 156 junior/community colleges selected on the basis of geographic locale and type of control. Secondary stratification variables included college size, organization, and curriculum emphasis. Accurate rosters of full-time and part-time faculty were generated from class schedules. Pilot procedures, selection of the college and faculty samples, and the use of facilitators are described.     

Computer-prepared questionnaires and grouping theories: Considerations for mail surveys in academic settings

Possible respondents in a 1974 survey of University of Kentucky doctoral graduates were sent either computer-prepared or offset-printed questionnaires, personalized and identical in content. No difference was found in the overall response rates to the two types of instruments. But when the responses were categorized by the academic major of each recipient according to the theories of Holland (1973) and Biglan (1973a, 1973b), differential response rates appeared. Moreover, interactions of questionnaire type and grouping category were also evident. Response rates were projected using the best type of questionnaire for each grouping category in which a significant interaction occurred. Neither grouping theory was found to be superior to the other in projected response rates.     

Advantages of Open-Response Questions in Survey Research

Abstract

There is a paucity of research to demonstrate that a different kind and degree of information may be obtained from open-response questions in questionnaires. Evidence is invariably drawn from studies dealing with the interview rather than the questionnaire. This study sought to document advantages to open-response questions used in a questionnaire format. A survey utilizing both open and closed questions and eliciting reactions of community college-university transfer students provided the context. It was concluded that open-response questions can verify previously given answers, reveal degrees of emotion, indicate information collection procedures, and suggest institutional improvement.     

Developing Attitudes towards Science Measures

In this study, we describe the development of measures used to examine pupils’ attitudes towards science. In particular, separate measures for attitudes towards the following areas were developed: learning science in school, practical work in science, science outside of school, importance of science, self‐concept in science, and future participation in science. In developing these measures, criticisms of previous attitude studies in science education were noted. In particular, care was taken over the definition of each of the attitude constructs, and also ensuring that each of the constructs was unidimensional. Following an initial piloting process, pupils aged 11–14 from five secondary schools throughout England completed questionnaires containing the attitude measures. These questionnaires were completed twice by pupils in these schools, with a gap of four weeks between the first and second measurements. Altogether, 932 pupils completed the first questionnaire and 668 pupils completed the second one. Factor analysis carried out on the resulting data confirmed the unidimensionality of the separate attitude constructs. Also, it was found that three of the constructs—learning science in school, science outside of school, and future participation in science—loaded on one general attitude towards science factor. Further analysis showed that all the measures showed high internal reliability (Cronbach’s α > 0.7). A particular strength of the approach used in this study was that it allowed for attitude measures to be built up step‐by‐step, therefore allowing for the future consideration of other relevant constructs.     

Promoting Science Outdoor Activities for Elementary School Children: Contributions from a research laboratory

The purposes of the study were to analyse the promotion of scientific literacy through practical research activities and to identify children's conceptions about scientists and how they do science. Elementary school children were engaged in two scientific experiments in a marine biology research laboratory. A total of 136 students answered a questionnaire about their previous habits towards science and carried out the following actions: (1) a guided visit to the laboratory, (2) a brief presentation of the research theme, (3) the development of two experiments, and (4) a questionnaire about the experiments and science conceptions. The research methods included observation, document analysis, and content analysis of the answers to the questionnaires. Additionally, each visit was video recorded in order to design learning materials. The results revealed that most of the pupils were able to follow every stage of experimentation. However, some of them misinterpreted results and conclusions. One implication of the study is that this type of outdoor activity is extremely important to promote meaningful science learning in children, but more care should be taken in practical science activities so that children can overcome some common difficulties when performing scientific inquiry.     

Returns to education in rural China

Based on one of the most widely used datasets by foreign-based sociologists, this paper examines the rate of returns to education in rural China. Compared with the previous studies that showed rather low rates in rural areas throughout the 1980s, this study finds a considerably higher rate in 1996. A chief contributor is the rapid non-agricultural development, which creates enormous upward mobility opportunities, particularly for the more educated. Due to the uneven economic development nationwide, the rate of returns to education varies widely across regions. In areas with less developed non-agricultural sectors, it remains low. In contrast, where off-farm employment is widespread, it is much higher. In addition, the labor market is functioning to allocate the more educated to better-paid jobs, but has yet to produce higher returns to education in non-agricultural sectors than in the agricultural sector. However, changes may be occurring in coastal regions. Translated from Zhongguo Shehui Kexue 中国社会科学 (Social Sciences in China), 2006, (3): 98–109