Appendix D: Design and response

The main advantage of postal questionnaires is that they are relatively cheap to administer and easier for non-survey organisations to administer than face-to-face interviews or telephone interviews. They also allow respondents more time to consider both the questions and their answers. Hence to achieve acceptable response rates thought must be given to reducing the burden of participating in the survey, assuring the confidentiality of the participant and helping the participant to understand that taking part is a worthwhile activity. NHS England are exploring the possibility of developing and using electronic versions of the survey. Currently, CASSRs can only use electronic versions for those with a sensory impairment who could not otherwise participate.

The questionnaire is designed to minimise the burden on respondents. To make it easier to read the standard questionnaire for this survey it has been printed in a large, clear font – Calibri – and in 14-point type. A large print version is also available. In terms of content a limited number of question styles have been used and the use of graphic features such as emboldening, italics, indentation and the positioning of tick boxes have been employed consistently to help respondents find their way easily through the questionnaires.

Question routing has not been used in ASCS because respondents to postal surveys often find even the most rudimentary routing, such as “go to question 8”, difficult to deal with.

The covering and reminder letters include information required by the Social Care Research Ethics Committee (SCREC), including a guarantee of confidentiality, and an explanation of what respondents should do if they need help completing their questionnaire with details of a number they can ring if they have any queries that need to be addressed. They also stress the importance of the information in informing local and national level policy.