When conducting a postal survey, a traditional recommendation is to use paper postage stamps instead of an automated postage system, to make sure that invitations have a more personal and attractive appearance. In this research note, we investigate whether this traditional recommendation is still valid. In the autumn of 2020, a postal survey was conducted among high-school teachers in Belgium strictly adhering to the Dillman protocol. The overall response rate was 43.4%. Invitations with a real paper postage stamp had a three-percentage points higher response rate (44.9% versus 41.8%), but this difference proved not to be significant. There are no significant gender or age differences between the groups. In addition, the presence or absence of a paper stamp did not influence the respondents’ choice for answering the questionnaire online or on paper, as those who received a stamped envelope were equally likely to choose the online answering tool.

在进行邮政调查时，传统的建议是使用纸质邮票而不是自动邮资系统，以确保邀请具有更加个性化和有吸引力的外观。在本研究报告中，我们调查了这一传统建议是否仍然有效。2020 年秋季，在比利时严格遵守 Dillman 协议的高中教师中进行了一项邮政调查。总体响应率为43.4%。带有真实纸质邮票的邀请的回复率高出三个百分点（44.9% 对 41.8%），但事实证明这种差异并不显着。各组之间没有显着的性别或年龄差异。此外，