Demystifying the use of mail survey in developing countries: a case of Nepal

ABSTRACT

The mail survey is a popular data collection tool in developed countries, but little is known about its use and efficacy in developing countries. Grounded on social exchange and diffusion of innovations theories, this study sought to ascertain whether the mail survey works in Nepal – one of the developing countries, by looking at how long respondents take to respond to mail surveys, and what the determinants are of the response time. A mail survey was conducted in June–September 2012 among 863 village animal health workers. Analysis of the data derived from 500 usable surveys shows that if properly planned and executed, the mail survey will perfectly work in developing countries as well. However, response period greatly varied by respondent’s home region, program sponsor, income groups, but not by gender, age, and education. The paper concludes by outlining suggestions to improve the mail survey.

KEYWORDS:

• Mail survey
• response time
• response rate
• Nepal

Acknowledgments

This research became possible because of the financial support provided by the Department of Community Sustainability from Michigan State University. Data for this research came from the village animal health workers. The authors greatly appreciated their voluntary participation and input. Ramesh Dhakal, Deepa Dhakal, and Prativa Dhakal helped with organizing the surveys for which they deserve a big thank you. Finally, the authors are thankful to the leadership and staff of Department of Livestock Services, Director of Livestock Services Training Directorate, and Regional Livestock Services Training Centers for their support to this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ramjee P. Ghimire

Dr. Ramjee P. Ghimire received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University with focus on international agricultural development, and agricultural extension. He has been involved in many multidisciplinary research and development projects in Asia, Africa, and the U.S. He has designed and administered several online, mail, and in-person surveys, and evaluated several agriculture extension, and education programs. Besides helping to design and implement the WorldTAP activities at Michigan State University, Dr. Ghimire serves as the co-principal investigator for a comprehensive compost manure marketing project in Michigan, and a team member for Exchanges, Training, and Scholarships component of Center of Excellence for Agriculture project in Egypt. He brings over 16 years of experience in agricultural extension and advisory services, including but not limited to social mobilization, monitoring and evaluation, animal health and livestock production. He coordinated with line ministries, pastoralists, and donor agencies in developing rangeland policy in Nepal. He has authored many articles, book chapters, policy briefs, reports and conference proceedings. He serves as the reviewer for over a dozen journals. Dr. Ghimire also serves as the editor-in-chief for the Policy and Research Brief Editorial Committee at Association of Nepalese Agricultural Professionals of Americas.

Murari Suvedi

Dr. Murari Suvedi is serving as the professor in the Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University. He has extensive experience in agricultural extension and rural development. He joined the faculty of Michigan State University in 1990. His teaching and research focus are on program evaluation. He teaches courses on program evaluation in agriculture and natural resources. He is actively engaged in international agriculture and extension education. He developed and coordinated Michigan State University’s semester-long study abroad programs in Nepal and Thailand; facilitated the partnership between MSU and Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan and served as Fulbright Senior U.S. Scholar to Nepal. He has offered evaluation workshops to rural development and agricultural extension professionals in Cambodia, India, Mexico, and Nepal. He evaluated the impact of Feed the Future project in Cambodia and also facilitated the development of Cambodia’s agriculture extension policy. He has an on-going action research on off-season vegetable production in Nepal. He provided leadership in strengthening linkages between agriculture research and agriculture extension in Malawi. He is widely published.