Nancy A. Connelly

Factors Affecting Response Rates to Natural Resource - Focused Mail Surveys: Empirical Evidence of Declining Rates Over Time

We analyzed factors that could affect response rates for 105 mail surveys conducted by the Human Dimensions Research Unit at Cornell University between 1971 and 2000. The surveys addressed diverse natural resource-based topics and involved a variety of study populations. We tested the null hypothesis that response rates to natural resource-focused mail surveys are not changing over time. We found the best multiple regression model (adjusted R 2 =.558) to explain differences in response rates incorporated five independent variables: (1) saliency of study topic to surveyed population, (2) the month of the first mailing, (3) the size (font) of print type, (4) the number of complex questions included in the survey, and (5) year of survey implementation. All other variables held constant, the model suggests that response rates dropped on average 0.77% per year over the 30-year period. The scatterplot of response rate versus time suggests a gradual decline in response rates over time.

Sportfish consumption patterns of Lake Ontario anglers and the relationship to health advisories.

Abstract Accurate fish consumption estimates are necessary to determine the risks anglers face associated with consumption of contaminated fish and to assess compliance with fish consumption health advisories. Based on a 12-month diary methodology, anglers who fished Lake Ontario in 1992 consumed an average of 30.3 fish meals in 1992, of which 28% were sport-caught. When meal size was factored in, an estimated 17.9 g of fish per day from all sources were consumed by Lake Ontario anglers. Virtually all diary participants (>95%) who fished Lake Ontario in 1992 said they were aware of the New York State health advisory. However, 36% of 1992 Lake Ontario anglers consumed fish in excess of the fish consumption limits recommended for Lake Ontario; 14% ate fish from Lake Ontario but did not exceed limits recommended in the advisory; the remainder (50%) did not consume any fish from Lake Ontario in 1992. Furthermore, 90% of those who actually consumed over the limit said they believed their consumption was within...

Response to mail surveys on resource-based recreation topics: a behavioral model and an empirical analysis.

Abstract The ability to predict response rates to mail surveys is important in estimating sample size and in assessing the probable need for a nonrespondent follow‐up study to improve the accuracy of population estimates. Predictive models of response rates to mail surveys are scarce, and none has examined leisure or recreation resource‐related studies. This report starts with a behavioral model that takes the potential respondents perspective. On the basis of the model, variables affecting response rates are hypothesized, operationalized, and tested in 38 studies, each of which used standard mail survey techniques including a cover letter, printed questionnaire booklet, and three reminder letters. Saliency of the topic in combination with the type of survey audience, the amount of hypothetical questions used, the number of pages, the height of the type used, and the month of survey implementation were all statistically significant predictors of response rate.

Use of Angler Diaries to Examine Biases Associated with 12-Month Recall on Mail Questionnaires

Abstract A comparison of diary and mail methodologies for a cohort of anglers who fished Lake Ontario was used to examine biases associated with 12-month recall from mail questionnaires. Significant differences in estimates were found between estimates reported by respondents in diaries (1992) versus mail questionnaires (1991) for number of days fished and fish consumption, but not for fishing expenditures and catch. After the data were adjusted for a decline in fishing on Lake Ontario between 1991 and 1992, it was found that angler-days were overestimated by 44–45% on the 12-month recall mail questionnaire. This percentage can serve as an initial estimate of a correction factor for future studies. Lower average annual fish consumption rates were reported in the diary year compared with the mail questionnaire year. However, because of the lower percentage of meals of sport-caught fish during the diary year and the knowledge that sportfishing declined in 1992 for Lake Ontario anglers, it is not clear what ...

Net Economic Value of the Freshwater Recreational Fisheries of New York

Abstract A statewide angler survey was conducted in New York in 1988 in part to estimate the net economic value of the states recreational fishery. Willingness-to-pay questions from the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation were adapted to a mail survey format and respondents were asked how much they would be willing to pay above current expenditures for a specific fishing trip. The net economic value estimated from the responses exceeded

An Angler Typology Based on Angler Fishing Preferences

284 million for the freshwater fisheries of New York in 1988. Although inland fisheries accounted for 76% of the statewide net economic value,

Assessing the relative importance of recall bias and nonresponse bias and adjusting for those biases in statewide angler surveys

69 million was associated with the portion of the Great Lakes assigned to New York. Comparisons with a 1976–1977 analysis of the net economic value of New Yorks Great Lakes fishery, which used a variation of the indirect travel cost methodology, showed a major shift in net economic value from trips for warmwater species to trips for coldwater or for both warm and coldwater species. Baseline da...

Using diaries to estimate fishing effort and fish consumption: A contemporary assessment

Abstract The purpose of our study was to identify distinct types of anglers with different preferences for fishing opportunities, focusing on anglers in New York State. The sample of anglers who responded to a large statewide survey was randomly assigned to two subsamples (N 1 = 1,769 and N 2 = 1,784) to allow for cross validation of the cluster analysis used to determine angler types. Using a scale that measured basic fishing preferences such as desire for catch, skill development, and fish consumption, we identified seven types of anglers. These types were further described and validated by means of a more specific fishing-preferences scale measuring variables such as the type of water, tackle, fishing methods, and sites preferred. Angler types ranged from the largest groups, namely, skilled, coldwater, fish consumers (24%) and low-skilled, warmwater, fish consumers (17%), to the smallest group, namely, skilled, coldwater, stream anglers (6%). In general, we found that anglers were fishing in the areas ...

Options for maintaining high fishing satisfaction in situations of declining catch rates

Abstract Accurate information about angler effort and expenditures, obtained at a reasonable cost, is very important to fisheries managers and planners. Several sources of systematic bias in measurement can affect estimates of participation. We used regression analysis to examine nonresponse and recall bias. We compared respondents’ estimates of days fished based on a 12‐month‐recall mail survey, its nonrespondent phone follow‐up, and a quarterly phone survey and found that both nonresponse and recall bias significantly and almost equally influenced estimates of days fished. We calculated a combined recall and nonresponse bias correction factor of 29% for deriving estimates of days fished based on the 12‐month‐recall mail questionnaire. Further work is needed to ascertain the generalizability of this correction factor.

Fishery and Environmental Managers’ Attitudes About and Support For Lake Trout Rehabilitation in the Great Lakes

Abstract This paper examines both the strengths and weaknesses of the diary method, focusing on a recent use of the method for measuring both fishing participation and fish consumption. A diary was sent to the 1,202 anglers willing to keep a record of fish consumption and fishing trips to Lake Ontario and other New York waters in 1992. Participants were contacted by telephone every three months to retrieve information recorded in the diary. A subsample of participants was sent a postcard every three weeks between telephone calls to serve as a reminder of the project. Diaries were returned at the end of the year and compared with information received during the telephone follow‐ups. We found no evidence for a conditioning effect bias, but did find an item‐mismatch rate of 5–7% between information gathered during the telephone follow‐ups as compared with that written in the diary. The postcards were successful at alerting participants to potential recording errors on a gross level. Possibly, more use could ...