VSC Initial Contact Script (at 297 sites)

VSC Contact Script

“Hello! My name is (name), and (full park name) is conducting an important survey. We are asking visitors for their opinions about the park’s services. Your participation in the survey is voluntary and anonymous, and you can complete the card in about three minutes when it is convenient to you. The survey card has its own preaddressed, postage-paid envelope. Just drop it in a US mailbox (or a convenient drop-box in the park- If drop boxes are used at the site) when you are through with it. Your opinion is important! Would you be willing to complete the survey card and mail it back to us?”

Visitors who agree to participate are thanked and given a postage-paid, return addressed survey card. They will be encouraged to complete the survey and mail it back at the end of their park visit, or in some cases, deposit the completed survey in a locked metal drop box on-site. The survey card takes approximately three minutes to complete.

If the visitor answers “No” then interviewers will follow with “Thank you! Have a great day experiencing your National Park.”

Selected Non-Response Bias Check Sites

A non-response bias check will be conducted at a random sample of 10% of the participating NPS sites (n=33). At these sites, during the initial contact, a random sample of visitors will be asked to participate in the survey using the script below. They will also be asked two questions to assess if there is a non- response bias. The interviewer will record the responses to these questions as well as the gender of the respondent. If the respondent refuses to take the survey, the interviewer will ask them if they would be willing to answer the two non-response bias check questions. If the visitor refuses to answer the two non-response bias check questions the interviewer will simply record the visitor’s gender from observation in the log sheet.

At the selected sites interviewers will be instructed to use the following script when approaching selected visitors:

“Hello! My name is (name), and (full park name) is conducting an important survey. We are asking visitors for their opinions about the park’s services. Your participation in the survey is voluntary and anonymous, and you can complete the card in about three minutes when it is convenient to you. The survey card has its own preaddressed, postage-paid envelope. Just drop it in a US mailbox (or a convenient drop-box in the park- If drop boxes are used at the site) when you are through with it. Your opinion is important! Would you be willing to complete the survey card and mail it back to us?”

If the visitor agrees to take the survey or refuses to take the survey but agrees to answer the non-response bias check questions then the interviewer will ask:

“Would you be willing to answer two questions?”

“On a scale of 1-5 what, in your opinion, is the overall quality of facilities, services, and recreational opportunities here today at (full park name). Select 1 for Very Good, 2 for Good, 3 for Average, 4 for Poor, or 5 for Very Poor.”

My last question is “what year were you born?”

The interviewer will log the responses to both questions and note gender of respondent on a log sheet.

If the visitor declines to participate the interviewer will follow up with

“Thank you! And have a great day experiencing your National Park.”

The interviewer will note gender of respondent, and the reason for non-contact on the log sheet, for example, “in a hurry to catch up with family.”