Cost-Effective Methods for Collecting Health Data. Executive Summary

摘要

The objective of this research was to discover whether it is possible to obtain data of reasonably high quality by a procedure that first attempted to recruit households to keep and mail in written diaries for four months, but that used telephone calls to obtain the information if the household did not return the diaries. About 1,200 households in Illinois were recruited to keep written diaries for four months, and mail them in. If they did not return the diaries they were reminded by telephone. All households that returned diaries were compensated, and the method of compensation was one of the factors that was varied experimentally. Households were recruited after an initial interview. The method of administering the interview was varied. Also varied was the length of the diary-keeping period, and the reminder contacts. Comparisons were made between telephone, mail, or no scheduled reminders.