The mailing

The mailing was conducted by one of the authors during the period of March to April 2004 through the University of Hawai`i post office. Each mailing piece consisted of a cover letter, a consent form, the questionnaire itself, and a business reply envelope. Assuming (perhaps optimistically) a 20% response rate, we decided to send 1,000 pieces split into two 500 piece mailings approximately two weeks apart. This way, if the response rate were much higher than anticipated, we could postpone or eliminate the second mailing. In the end, both 500 piece mailings were sent. The only difference between the two mailings was that the due date on the cover later was changed to reflect a slightly later date for the second mailing. Of the 1,000 pieces sent, approximately 10 surveys were returned as undeliverable because the addressee was no longer at that address or was deceased. Five surveys were returned as undeliverable as the address label had either fallen off or not been affixed initially.

At approximately the same time as the surveys were being mailed, we also placed announcements on several electronic LISTSERVs announcing the availability of an electronic version. The URL for the electronic version was also included in the cover letter of the mailing. The electronic version was accessible for approximately four months after which it was taken off line.