The Drop-off and Pick-up Method: An Approach to Reduce Nonresponse Bias in Natural Resource Surveys

Forestry researchers frequently conduct surveys to assess woodland owner attitudes, behavior, behavioral intentions, and program adoption. However, the ability to utilize survey results in applied research is dependent upon how accurately the sample respondents reflect the reference population. One major issue in survey research is nonresponse bias. Nonresponse bias occurs when individuals do not respond to a questionnaire and is a concern because of the potential inability to make accurate inferences to a population based on responses. Researchers in this study compare two methods of questionnaire distribution (Drop-off/Pick-up and the Tailored Design Method) in terms of cost effectiveness and response rate. When compared to the Tailored Design Method (TDM), use of the Drop-off/Pick-Up (DOPU) method resulted in significantly higher response rates, provided an alter- native method by which to determine survey eligibility, and had significantly higher survey implementation costs. The DOPU technique is an effective means to reduce potential nonresponse bias through increased response rate. When implementing the DOPU method, face-to-face contact and verbal communication with respondents permitted researchers to better determine eligibility than did leaving the question- naire on the doorknob. Relying solely on respondents to indicate ineligibility on the survey instrument was not as effective as verbal confirmation of eligibility in the DOPU.