ENHANCING RESPONSE RATES TO A SMOKING SURVEY FOR ENLISTED US NAVY WOMEN

This study examines the effectiveness of a stepped approach for increa sing response rates to a mailed follow-up smoking survey among newly e nlisted women in the navy. The effect of the steppes approach on respo nse rates and on the characteristics of respondents was evaluated. Als o, costs were estimated for each of the steps to determine their relat ive benefits Results showed that the stepped approach was effective in more than doubling the survey response rate among smokers. Reluctant respondents did not differ from on-time respondents in of demographics or baseline smoking, although nonrespondents ware less educated and h eavier smokers than on-time and reluctant respondents. Strategies docu mented here could well apply to survey efforts with other hard-to-reac h populations.