A case can be made that BRC mail surveys now provide the most projectable results.  Addresses are available for over 80% of all the households in the country.   When we mail our photoboard questionnaires to a random cross section of these households we typically get a third to fill them out and return them.   No other interviewing method will routinely produce as high a completion rate from as broad a sampling frame.

Mail samples do not have the upscale, urban skew usually found in mall interviewing.  They do not have the phone survey tendency to miss people who are not home much.  When they finally do come home their mail is always there waiting for them.  They also don't miss those who use cell phones and answering machines.  Mail surveys used to be the lowest cost alternative, but now there are cases where online surveys can be even less expensive.  

On the negative side, mail surveys take more time.  Usually a month has to be allowed for the replies to come in. 

As the portion of the public that is online increases and becomes more representative of the total population, our use of mail has decreased.  However, mail surveys are still likely to be the best value for a sample that needs to include a representative cross section of the offline population. 

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