Pilot study of a repeated random sampling method for surveys focusing on date-specific differences in alcohol consumption among university students

Abstract

Abstract Background This paper proposes and pilots a repeated random sampling method to promote the likelihood of collecting drinking data equally representative of the behavior of university students at all times through the academic year. Methods From October, 2016, to May, 2017, random samples of 1350 students were selected from the 39,155 undergraduate students enrolled in the fall semester at University of Houston. These students were sent an email inviting them to complete an online survey (entered into a weekly draw for a $50 gift certificate if responded). Results The response rate was low (6%). Among participants who reported drinking in the last week, there was a variation as expected in the amount of drinking observed depending on the time of year (e.g., during exams). Conclusions While the sampling methods show promise, procedures would need to be implemented to substantially increase response rates before the proposed methods could be seen as an advantage over existing survey sampling procedures.

Keywords

• Student drinking
• Epidemiology
• Methods