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Paper surveys
Postal surveys certainly still play a major role in quantitative research. True, for some surveys paper might be too patient or too static, but for other surveys there may be no phone numbers or e-mail adresses available for the target group, calling may be considered too obtrusive, internet coverage may be too limited or there may be other good reasons to prefer a paper questionnaire. In any case a postal survey is usually a cost-effective approach, often a suitable solution and sometimes the only option. DESAN processes hundreds of thousands of paper questionnaires each year. Usually we also take care of the design, layout, printing, distribution and handling. Small volumes can be processed by our data typists using the data entry module of our IT software. Larger volumes are read out electronically by high-capacity scanners (OMR, OCR). Customers not only receive the resulting data, but can also be provided with digital images of all scanned questionnaires if they wish. Our response information system closely monitors response developments, so steps can be taken quickly if necessary. By sending an extra postal reminder for instance. Or by carring out an additional telephone survey or telephone reminder among non-respondents. Thanks to our generic data collection software, combining different methods is no problem at all.