S2Because of the great and growing interest in outdoor recreation, many studies are being made by private and public agencies that need information for planning use of land and facilities for recreational purposes. In these studies much attention is being given to the people who use recreational facilitieswho they are; where they come from; what they like; what they want; how much they are willing to spend. Many types of surveys are being used in studying these people. The main question in planning a survey of this sort is: What survey technique can be used that will provide the most reliable and valid results at the least cost? To get an answer that we could use in our recreation research program, we made a study of four different survey techniquesa personal interview, a handout questionnaire, an immediate mail questionnaire, and a delayed mail questionnaire. Results show that the delayed mail survey, conducted 3 months after the camping experience, gets the best results at the least cost. Our study is described here for the benefit of other research workers in outdoor recreation.S3.