It is thought that the front cover and the nature of the first question on mail surveys influence the response rate. The article “The Impact of Cover Design and First Questions on Response Rates for a Mail Survey of Skydivers” (Leisure Sciences, 1991: 67–76) tested this theory by experimenting with different cover designs. One cover was plain; the other used a picture of a skydiver. The researchers speculated that the return rate would be lower for the plain cover.

Cover Number Sent Number Returned Plain 207 104 Skydiver 213 109 Does this data support the researchers’hypothesis? Test the relevant hypotheses using by first calculating a P-value.