Food Safety and Nutrition Survey (FSANS)

The FSANS utilized ABS to draw a nationally representative sample of households. Those households were randomly selected to receive either the Food Safety or Nutrition version of the survey. Within each household, the specific respondent was randomly selected using the Hagan-Collier within household sampling (oldest adult female, youngest adult female, oldest adult male, youngest adult male) scheme to identify the survey participant (Hagan & Collier 1983). Up to five mailings requesting participation in the study were sent to each selected household, pursuant to recommendations by Dillman et al. (2014, chap. 11). The first mailing was a notification letter on FDA letterhead introducing the study and providing survey access information (the URL and a unique personal identification number [PIN] assigned to each selected household); the mailing invited the selected adult to complete the study by visiting an FDA website. The first mailing contained two $1 bills as an incentive, to encourage response and maintain data quality. The second mailing was a thank you/reminder postcard; this mailing was sent three days after the initial letter and was followed six days later by the third mailing, a second reminder letter. The fourth mailing, sent 20 days after the initial mailing to those who had not yet responded, contained a letter, a survey booklet, and a pre-paid return envelope. Four days after the fourth mailing, researchers sent the fifth and final contact, a reminder postcard that also included instructions on how to access the web version of the survey. Addresses in zip codes with high density Hispanic populations according to the US Census (20% Hispanic or higher) received letters in Contacts 1, 3, and 4 with the information both in English and in Spanish.