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Post offices
\"Vivid photographs and easy-to-read text introduce readers to the purpose, people, and layout of post offices. Young readers will get to dive into their community's oldest form of communication. Features include a table of contents, an infographic, fun facts, Making Connections questions, a glossary, and an index. QR Codes in the book give readers access to book-specific resources to further their learning. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards.\" -- Amazon.com.
Book
Public transport crowdshipping: moving shipments among parcel lockers located at public transport stations
In view of success stories of unicorn startups from the sharing and gig economy such as Airbnb, DiDi, or Uber, it is not surprising that postal service providers try to transfer the sharing idea toward their last-mile delivery services: owners of under-used assets (here private crowdshippers traveling anyway) are connected with users willing to pay for the use of these assets (here postal service providers having to deliver parcels). In this paper, we consider a special form of crowdshipping where public transport users, steered by a smartphone app, pick up parcels from parcel lockers, take these shipments with them on their subway rides, and deposit these parcels into other lockers. Finally, the actual recipients can pick up their shipments from their most convenient parcel lockers, e.g., on their own way back home from work. We formulate the optimization problem that matches crowdshipping demand and supply and determines the routes along lockers and crowdshippers each parcel takes. Specifically, we allow that each parcel is moved by multiple cooperating crowdshippers and solve this problem with different objective functions capturing the individual aims of the main stakeholders: shippers, crowdshippers, recipients, and the platform provider. We evaluate the relationship of these objectives and quantify the efficiency loss of a more restricted matching policy, where only a single crowdshipper can be assigned to each parcel’s complete path between origin and destination. Finally, we also explore the impact of delays and investigate whether specific objectives protect against unforeseen events.
Journal Article
Our post office
\"The post office is an important place in our community. Many community helpers work at the post office. Readers will learn about who works at a post office, what the workers do, and what makes a post office special. Simple, at-level text and vibrant photos help readers learn all about the post office\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
A randomized trial found online questionnaires supplemented by postal reminders generated a cost-effective and generalizable sample but don’t forget the reminders
The objective of this study was to compare the response rates, data completeness, and representativeness of survey data produced by online and postal surveys.
A randomized trial nested within a cohort study in Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Participants were randomized to receive either an electronic (online) survey questionnaire with paper reminder (N = 2,982) or paper questionnaire with electronic reminder (N = 2,855).
Response rates were similar for electronic contact and postal contacts (50.9% vs. 49.7%, difference = 1.2%, 95% confidence interval: −1.3% to 3.8%). The characteristics of those responding to the two groups were similar. Participants nevertheless demonstrated an overwhelming preference for postal questionnaires, with the majority responding by post in both groups.
Online survey questionnaire systems need to be supplemented with a postal reminder to achieve acceptable uptake, but doing so provides a similar response rate and case mix when compared to postal questionnaires alone. For large surveys, online survey systems may be cost saving.
Journal Article
Methods to increase response rates to a population-based maternity survey: a comparison of two pilot studies
Background
Surveys are established methods for collecting population data that are unavailable from other sources; however, response rates to surveys are declining. A number of methods have been identified to increase survey returns yet response rates remain low. This paper evaluates the impact of five selected methods on the response rate to pilot surveys, conducted prior to a large-scale National Maternity Survey in England.
Methods
The pilot national maternity surveys were cross-sectional population-based questionnaire surveys of women who were three months postpartum selected at random from birth registrations. Women received a postal questionnaire, which they could complete on paper, online or verbally over the telephone. An initial pilot survey was conducted (pilot 1,
n
= 1000) to which the response rate was lower than expected. Therefore, a further pilot survey was conducted (pilot 2,
n
= 2000) using additional selected methods with the specific aim of increasing the response rate. The additional selected methods used for all women in pilot 2 were: pre-notification, a shorter questionnaire, more personable survey materials, an additional reminder, and inclusion of quick response (QR) codes to enable faster access to the online version of the survey. To assess the impact of the selected methods, response rates to pilot surveys 1 and 2 were compared.
Results
The response rate increased significantly from 28.7% in pilot 1 to 33.1% in pilot 2 (+ 4.4%, 95%CI:0.88–7.83,
p
= 0.02). Analysis of weekly returns according to time from initial and reminder mail-outs suggests that this increase was largely due to the additional reminder. Most respondents completed the paper questionnaire rather than taking part online or over the telephone in both pilot surveys. However, the overall response to the online questionnaire almost doubled from 1.8% in pilot 1 to 3.5% in pilot 2, corresponding to an absolute difference of 1.7% (95%CI:0.45–2.81,
p
= 0.01), suggesting that QR codes might have facilitated online participation.
Conclusions
Declining survey response rates may be ameliorated with the use of selected methods. Further studies should evaluate the effectiveness of each of these methods using randomised controlled trials and identify novel strategies for engaging populations in survey research.
Journal Article
Effect of Mailed Human Papillomavirus Test Kits vs Usual Care Reminders on Cervical Cancer Screening Uptake, Precancer Detection, and Treatment
In the United States, more than 50% of cervical cancers are diagnosed in underscreened women. Cervical cancer screening guidelines now include primary human papillomavirus (HPV) testing as a recommended strategy. Home-based HPV self-sampling is a viable option for increasing screening compliance and effectiveness; however, US data are needed to inform health care system implementation.
To evaluate effectiveness of mailed HPV self-sampling kits vs usual care reminders for in-clinic screening to increase detection and treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) and uptake of cervical cancer screening.
Randomized clinical trial conducted in Kaiser Permanente Washington, a US integrated health care delivery system. Women aged 30 to 64 years with health plan enrollment for 3 years and 5 months or more, a primary care clinician, no Papanicolaou test within 3 years and 5 months, and no hysterectomy were identified through electronic medical records and enrolled from February 25, 2014, to August 29, 2016, with follow-up through February 26, 2018.
The control group received usual care (annual patient reminders and ad hoc outreach from primary care clinics). The intervention group received usual care plus a mailed HPV self-sampling kit.
Two primary outcomes were (1) CIN2+ detection within 6 months of screening and (2) treatment within 6 months of CIN2+ detection. Screening uptake within 6 months of randomization was a secondary outcome.
A total of 19 851 women (mean [SD] age, 50.1 [9.5] years) were included, with 9960 randomized to the intervention group and 9891 randomized to the control group. All women randomized were included in analysis. In the intervention group, 12 participants with CIN2+ were detected compared with 8 in the control group (relative risk, 1.49; 95% CI, 0.61-3.64) and 12 cases were treated vs 7 in the control group (relative risk, 1.70; 95% CI, 0.67-4.32). Screening uptake was higher in the intervention group (2618 participants [26.3%] vs 1719 participants [17.4%]; relative risk, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.43-1.60).
Mailing HPV kits to underscreened women increased screening uptake compared with usual care alone, with no significant differences in precancer detection or treatment. Results support the feasibility of mailing HPV kits to women who are overdue for screening as an outreach strategy to increase screening uptake in US health care systems. Efforts to increase kit uptake and follow-up of positive results are warranted to maximize detection and treatment of CIN2+.
ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02005510.
Journal Article
The impact of extreme heat on workplace harassment and discrimination
I study the impact of extreme heat on the incidence of harassment and discrimination using data on Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) charges brought forward by US Postal Service (USPS) workers. I analyze more than 800,000 EEO charges filed between FYs 2004 and 2019. I find that heat stress experienced on days when maximum temperatures exceed 90 °F increases EEO incidents by roughly 5% relative to days when temperatures are between 60 °F and 70 °F. The uncovered effect is widespread across the USPS and appears to be driven by changes in the number of incidents rather than in their reporting.
Journal Article