A comparison of physicians who did or did not respond to a postal questionnaire.

Responses were received from 80.4% of 997 male physicians and 82.8% of 122 female physicians; the sex difference was not significant. Relationships to willingness to reply were examined in regard to family background, medical school academic performance, age, year of graduation, and scales on the Adjective Check List, the California Psychological Inventory, and the Strong Vocational Interest Blank. Only 12 of the 128 quantified variables produced significant differences. It is concluded that responders to mail surveys will constitute an unbiased sample of a professional group if they represent 75% or more of Ss. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)