Christmas Comes Early - Survey Style

Thursday is replacement questionnaire mail out day.

Uuuuugh!

Today, our team spent hours writing in women's names and signing our own (it's strange how my signature changes after writing it 700 times!) on cover letters, blu tacking pens to the cover letters, and matching cover letter ID numbers to replacement surveys.  This way, anyone who hasn't returned a survey gets a second chance.  For some reason, this was mind numbing work today - usually it doesn't bother me much.

Eventually, we decided to take a break to check the mail and see if we had any returned surveys.  There were 42. Yay!  So, just to give you an idea of what it's like to be a graduate student collecting returned surveys... there's the initial excitement that we received them and then we get to open them.  I'm pretty sure our eyes light up when we open them, just like it's Christmas day.

Today we had one survey that a woman stuck a Post-it note to.  It said, "Sorry about the delay with returning this questionnaire, have been on holiday." It's sort of sweet that she wrote the note!

I have decided that opening returned surveys is like opening a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to get.  Sometimes everything is complete.  Sometimes answers are missing.  Sometimes people answer questions and put an asterisk next to their response with an explanation at the bottom of the page.

My favorite part about checking surveys is looking for comments on the last page.  We've read all sorts of interesting comments.  For example, one woman who received a $5 note explained that it should be a higher denomination.  Some women simply thank us for including them in the sample.  Others write paragraphs about their own weight-related struggles.

Here's what one woman wrote to us today:

Since last time (the previous survey) I was challenged to reflect on my health and weight and realised I'd definitely done the "middle-age spread."  Joined WeightWatchers online (no time to go to meetings!) and lost 10kg in 7 months.  Have managed to keep it off for 6 months by upping the "walking" exercise.  Would now like to try to budge the last 5kg.  Thanks to this survey, I've taken some positive steps to improve my health outcomes.  Yay!

It's moments like this where I am so happy and thankful that I've found a field that I love!  Weight management research is definitely going to keep me busy for a long, long time.

Penny for Your Thoughts

1,300+ surveys out. Just over 400 surveys back. Folks, we're in the midst of collecting data here!

Yesterday (Saturday, mind you), Heidi and I met to make phone calls to women who sent back incomplete surveys.  Basically, a lot of women accidentally missed a question here or there, but the biggie was unreported weight.  This is kind of a big deal for our research!  I played detective and used our database to call home numbers, cell phone numbers, and alternate contact numbers.  Every woman I talked to was super nice!

Since we're following these women over several years, I feel like there's some sort of "connection" with them.  So, when I was on the phone with one woman yesterday I was sad to hear the reason why we didn't have her correct mailing address is because she had to move after the Christ Church earthquake.  Another woman's sister explained that the participant we were trying to reach could not participate in the survey because she has terminal cancer.  I felt so terrible for the participant and her family.

On the bright side, we hear from women that they enjoy our survey and are happy to participate. Yay!  They even write us notes of encouragement on the survey or the return envelope, like this one here:

Needless to say, I'm just thrilled that I am here doing this research.  I get a warm and fuzzy feeling opening each and every returned envelope with a completed survey inside - it gets me one step closer to having data to analyze to get us one step closer to a kick a$$ weight gain prevention intervention.

Stuff this!

We did it!  There are over 1,300 "Lifestyle, Eating Habits and Your Wellbeing" surveys currently making their way to women ages 43-53 all across New Zealand.  What a feat to get the job done!

If you thought that stuffing surveys would be easy. Think again!

Follow these simple steps and you, too, could achieve a nearly 80% response rate.

1. Handwrite each participants name on the "Dear ___" line of the cover letter.  Next, handwrite signatures for both students named as the researchers.
2. Bandage paper cuts.
3. Stick a pen to each cover letter.
4. Bandage paper cuts. Complain about fingers being sticky.
5. Make sure each survey has all of its pages.  
6. Bandage paper cuts.
7. Fold a free post envelope around each survey.
8. Bandage paper cuts.
9. Match cover letter identification numbers with survey identification numbers.
10. Bandage paper cuts.
11. Paperclip cover letter to survey.  Slide a tea bag into paper clip.
12. Bandage paper cuts. Take a break for a cup of tea made from a "reject" tea bag.  
13. Stuff into envelope for mailing.  Place in mailing flats. DON'T LET ANYTHING GET OUT OF POST CODE ORDER!
14. Bandage paper cuts.  Flash the evil eye to other students who look like they are about to place a survey out of post code order.
15. Locate envelopes for randomly selected women to receive small monetary token of appreciation.  Insert $.
16. Seal all envelopes.
17. Bandage paper cuts.  Complain that back hurts from bending over to seal envelopes.
18. Package mailing flats by buckling covers around the flats.
19. Call mail room guys to pick up the bundles of joy.  
20. Breathe a sigh of relief and mutter, "Goodbye and good riddance" as the bundles of joy leave the office.

But, by no means are we done yet.  We still have to send thank you/reminder postcards in a week.  Then, we'll send a replacement questionnaire to non-respondents about a week after that.  Then, we'll send a final reminder postcard.

Phwew!

Then, and only then, the real fun begins... after about two months the answers will be input into a database and the work of cleaning and analyzing data will begin.

And you know what? I can't wait!

I won! Who wants to come kayaking?!

Today was an awesome day! Our research team finished stuffing envelopes then stuffed ourselves with yumminess from Velvet Burger (I texted my email address to them just before we went and received a text for a free 1/2 order of chips as we walked over).

Before...

After...

When I got back to my room I had an exciting email waiting for me.  Recently, I was one of nine students who posted their blog to the University of Otago International Office Facebook page.  Today, I was picked to win a $100 voucher for kayaking because of my little blog you're reading.  So, I get to plan a trip to Abel Tasman National Park to see the folks at The Sea Kayak Company.  Cool, huh?!

Interestingly, this is good timing.  Five years ago, on April 9, my dad died from cancer.  One of our last trips together was camping in Acadia National Park in Maine.

I love that I can use the voucher in November to celebrate dad's 65th birthday.  This also gives me time to save up money to get there.  (I. am. broke.)  Kate suggested a big trip before she's done with her program and we may be able to rent a camper van and do a last hurrah before she leaves.  It's very roughly 10 1/2 hours to get there ('B' on the map below) from Dunedin ('A' on the map below).  Here's hoping I get lucky and win some gear from L.L. Bean for the trip!

I think dad would be so proud that his love of the outdoors is being carried on!

Sign. Fold. Stuff. Repeat.

The fun has begun!

We're getting ready to send out questionnaires for the three-year follow-up of our Women's Health and Well-being study.  For the last two days, we have handwritten over 1,000 women's names in the greeting line of our letter that summarizes last year's findings and announces the questionnaire coming next week.

In the midst of signing, folding, and predicting what it will be like when we start our work preparing the questionnaire mailing, I got my first taste of survey research methodology humor.  Someone asked why we have to go through the hassle of adding personal touches here and there;  after all, it is taking hooouurrrrss to get this all done.

Then someone, with her best Jerry Seinfold imitation, simply said, "Dillman!"

At the end of today, we finally started stuffing the envelopes.

Heidi and I took a break from the action to speak to parents at a nearby preschool.  The school is implementing the Healthy Heart Award program and wanted nutritionists to speak about healthy lunchbox choices.

When we walked in, we saw a room full of under 5s eating cut up pineapple, apples, grapes, slices of cheese, crackers, celery, hummus, pita bread and other deliciousness for lunch.  On the wall behind the little ones was a collage of food wrappers from items found in the kids' lunch boxes earlier this year.  Cookies, chips, gummies and other sweet things were all represented on the wall.  I thought it was a great reminder to all of us that the children are just as happy eating the fresher, nutrient dense foods.  The teachers hope that the education parents are getting through the program will reduce the amount of high fat/sugar/salt foods in kids' lunch boxes.

Heidi talked about reading food labels.  One father pointed out that fresh foods cost more.  He made a valid point.  I replied that what we're doing for children by buying them fresh fruits/vegetables, leaner meats, whole grains, etc is actually investing in their health to improve it down the road.  It is hard to imagine the eating habits of a 3-year-old affecting them at 13, but I hope I helped him think about things a little differently.  I also mentioned taking small steps - when they look at food labels at the grocery store this week, buy foods with less sugar.  Then, the next trip to the grocery store they can pick a different nutrient to focus on.  If we had more time, I would have busted out some of my knowledge from a "Balanced Diet on a Budget" talk I did in the senior centers at home.

Tomorrow will involve more envelope stuffing, but I don't mind!  The others on my research team are tolerating the music I put on our special Envelope Stuffing Party playlist which includes such great tunes as "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" by Jet, "Jump Around" by House of Pain, "and "Groove is in the Heart" by Dee-Lite.  They all agree that the dance party vibe makes getting the job done a lot more fun!

Tea bags, and pens, and lottery draws! Oh my!

Yes, as the title of the post suggests I've been doing a lot of reading and writing about unconditional incentives.  In 2009, a research team here pilot tested our postal survey mailing method and less than 60% of the women who were contacted returned their questionnaire.  That's a problem when you want to follow women for five years to collect data that you'd like to generalize to all the New Zealand women in the target age range.

So, they included little tokens of appreciation - University of Otago pens with the study name, individually wrapped tea bags and conditional lottery draws - in the questionnaires to increase the response rates.

Oh, and a few randomly selected people received cold hard cash.  $$$

Guess who was more likely to return her questionnaire?

The Great Cheese Debate

Oh my!  Busy times here in Dunedin!

Last week I enrolled in an endurance cycling study.  The research will look at the effect of salt supplementation on cycling performance.  To be eligible I needed one endurance cycling event under my belt in the past six months.  

So far, I had my VO2max tested and body fat measured by a skinfold test using calipers.  This was not sexy in any way, shape, or form.  To begin with, Sam, the student researcher, had to make little blue 'x's on my belly, bicep, shoulder blade, quad, and calf.  Then, he had to pinch all these x's with the calipers.  Not cute to have your belly fat pinched by a good looking young guy.

Next, a mask connected to a machine that analyzed my oxygen consumption went over my face for the 15 minute cycling test.  This was not an issue when I was warming up, but about 10 minutes into the test (after the tension had been cranked up) I turned into a drooling mess (all the water that I expired pooled in the bottom of the mask - gross).  On top of that the room was small and had poor ventilation.  So, I got a little on the sweaty side pretty quick.  And, on top of that, the mask caught the sound of my heavy breathing so that I sounded like Darth Vader.

This week I'm going out with the same student researcher to check out the 40 km course we'll do a time trial on for the study.  Unfortunately, coming from a country where we ride on the right side of the road presents some challenges when cycling in a country where they ride on the left side of the road.  I still can't quickly figure out which direction traffic will be coming from!

Eventually, I'll complete two more 80 km rides that will test my sweat rate. Yum.  Compensation for my effort will be $40 gift cards to the grocery store - just enough to buy a banana and a pack of gum (kidding, of course, but have I mentioned how expensive things are here?!).

My own research is, uh, sort of coming along.

We've had a few meetings about the questionnaire that we'll distribute to middle age women in New Zealand.  Usually, we get caught up in semantics.  We're a group of educated folks talking about food in a scientific sense.  We sometimes forget how normal people talk about food!  For example, would a regular person call something a low fat cheese OR a lower fat cheese?  

It gets a little foggy because the average person probably decides if the cheese she's eating is low/lower fat based on what the front of the package says (what the marketing tells the consumer she is eating), not what the nutrition facts label says (what she is specifically eating, in terms of grams of fat, carbohydrate, protein, etc. ).  So, if we want to know people are choosing "healthier" options, do we ask questions that relate to what the packaging says or what the food label says?

Have I lost you yet?  Yes?  Okay, let's leave this research stuff for now and look at pretty pictures instead.  

Check out the post below to read about my tramping trip to Paradise/the Routeburn Track/Mt. Xenicus.