Showing papers by "Don A. Dillman published in 1996"
TL;DR: The increasing tendency to use both telephone and mail surveys in survey designs makes an understanding of these patterns a pressing concern as mentioned in this paper, which makes it difficult to understand why people sometimes answer similar questions differently.
Abstract: Because people sometimes answer similar questions differently in telephone and mail surveys, the increasing tendency to use both modes in survey designs makes an understanding of these patterns a pressing concern.
123 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the effects of two prominently displayed appeals in combination with two different prominently displayed confidentiality assurances on mail-back completion rates for census questionnaires and found that neither the benefits appeal nor the variation between two confidentiality assurances had a significant effect on completion rates.
Abstract: This study examines the effects of two different prominently displayed appeals in combination with two different prominently displayed confidentiality assurances on mail-back completion rates for census questionnaires. The experiment was carried out on a national probability sample of 30,000 household units, using occupant-addressed questionnaires that contained the content of the 1990 decennial census short form. Neither the benefits appeal nor the variation between two confidentiality assurances had a significant effect on completion rates. The mandatory appeal, however, significantly improved completion rates, even when it appeared on the envelope only
69 citations
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01 Jan 1996
TL;DR: Salant, Salant, Don A. Dillman, James A. Christenson, and Pau l D. Warner IijjiJ eaching is not what it used to be in the nation's l.!. colleges and universities as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: by Priscilla Salant, Don A. Dillman, James A. Christenson, and Pau l D. Warner IijjiJ eaching is not what it used to be in the nation's l.!. colleges and universities . Because higher education is considered important to the employment prospects of more Americans than ever before, faculty are asked to teach a larger and more varied group of students. In addition to providing a "first" college education to young adults, they are called upon to re-educate returning students for second and third careers, and to do that in ways that minimally disrupt existing family, job, and other responsibilities. At the same time, they are exhorted to integrate rapidly changing information technologies into their curricula by revamping courses for delivery to remote locations, improving course quality and appeal with multimedia techniques, and mastering new methods of communication. Commercial providers, it is argued, are ready and waiting to take over from institutions that don' t respond with lightning speed (Chronicle of Higher Education, DoLence and Norris). Meeting these new demands, and at the same time coping with declining budgets, creates problems for universities. The shortage of information about what the public really wants from higher education complicates matters. Little is known about the kind of education now said to be in such great demand by new clientele. Analysts have argued for many years that ours is a "knowledge society" in which even an advanced college degree does not prepare people for a lifetime of work. But who are these new learners and what kind of lifelong education do they want? Is it true that they can be reached effectively through the use of distance education strategies?