Table 4
Characteristics of mail and online questionnaire delivery.
Attribute Mail questionnaire delivery Online questionnaire
Time Very time consuming
(delivery, reminder and
returns)
Quick online distribution
Cost Higher than online
questionnaire (includes
production and delivery), but
lower than interviews
Lower than paper
questionnaire (unit cost
depends on number of
responses)
Delivery In hand Via email
Cover
letter
Yes Yes (online)
Response
rate
Easy to calculate (based on
the number of distributed
paper copies)
Very difficult to establish if
open advertising used without
targeted and limited audience
of e.g. number of employees
approached
Data entry Manual Automatic
Anonymity Yes Yes (but e.g. computer IP can
be tracked down)
Other Physical gift (e.g. pen)
possible
Potential with screening to
achieve more detailed
selections of samples
compared to mail surveys