R: A comparison of response rate, data quality, and cost in the collection of data on sexual history and personal behaviors. Mail survey approaches and in-person interview

Garrard, and R. W. Gibson. A comparison of response rate, data quality, and cost in collection of data on sexual history and personal behaviors: mail survey approaches and in-person interview. Am J Epidemiol 1989; 129:1052-61. The authors examined differences in rate of response, data quality, and cost between mail approaches and in-person interview in the collection of data on sexual history and personal behaviors. A sample of women from a midwestern United States university (n = 342) was identified from health service medical records as having been seen for a sexually transmitted disease (cases) or a contraceptive visit (controls) during the latter half of 1985. The women were randomly assigned to one of three data collection strategies. A total of 268 subjects (78%) participated. Results indicated no differences in validity by method of data collection or by case-control status but there were significant differences in completeness, cost, and response rates. In-person interviews resulted in more complete data than mail approaches, although all instruments had low proportions of missing data (0.001-0.006). Response rate difference