Response bias in college freshmen's responses to mail surveys

This study compared the attitudes and demographic characteristics of an intact group of college freshmen to those of a sample responding to a mail survey and a sample responding to a telephone follow-up. Contrary to expectation, the three samples did not differ significantly in mean attitude responses. The absence of significant mean differences indicated no significant bias in college freshmen's responses to a mail survey. However, a higher percentage of returns was received from females and higher achievers than from males and low achievers.