In a classroom survey, a teacher or volunteer asks students if they bicycled to school and if they wore helmets. Telephone surveys are another method. A home is called and a number of questions is asked about healthy behavior, including helmet use. Because telephone surveys usually cover an entire area's population, analysis of the telephone survey data can produce area-wide estimates of helmet use. The most common survey is the BRFS - Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, conducted in many U.S. states.
Observational surveys are more expensive than telephone surveys.
They require trained observers, detailed sample site selection, and a good deal of planning. Since the BRFS survey is already in place, all that is needed is to add a question about helmet ownership and wearing. Although each survey method produced a different actual measurement of helmet wearing, all of them showed relatively similar increases in helmet wearing. Conclusion Indirect methods are most frequently used to evaluate helmet program effectiveness. Observational, classroom, and telephone survey methods are equally useful measuring helmet use.