Web Survey Bibliography
Background: Attrition, or dropout, is a problem faced by many online health interventions, potentially threatening the inferential value of online randomized controlled trials.
Objective: In the context of a randomized controlled trial of an online weight management intervention, where 85% of the baseline participants were lost to follow-up at the 12-month measurement, the objective was to examine the effect of nonresponse on key outcomes and explore ways to reduce attrition in follow-up surveys.
Methods: A sample of 700 nonrespondents to the 12-month online follow-up survey was randomly assigned to a mail or telephone nonresponse follow-up survey. We examined response rates in the two groups, costs of follow-up, reasons for nonresponse, and mode effects. We ran several logistic regression models, predicting response or nonresponse to the 12-month online survey as well as predicting response or nonresponse to the follow-up survey.
Results: We analyzed 210 follow-up respondents in the mail and 170 in the telephone group. Response rates of 59% and 55% were obtained for the telephone and mail nonresponse follow-up surveys, respectively. A total of 197 respondents (51.8%) gave reasons related to technical issues or email as a means of communication, with older people more likely to give technical reasons for noncompletion; 144 (37.9%) gave reasons related to the intervention or the survey itself. Mail follow-up was substantially cheaper: We estimate that the telephone survey cost about US $34 per sampled case, compared to US $15 for the mail survey. The telephone responses were subject to possible social desirability effects, with the telephone respondents reporting significantly greater weight loss than the mail respondents. The respondents to the nonresponse follow-up did not differ significantly from the 12-month online respondents on key outcome variables.
Conclusions: Mail is an effective way to reduce attrition to online surveys, while telephone follow-up might lead to overestimating the weight loss for both the treatment and control groups. Nonresponse bias does not appear to be a significant factor in the conclusions drawn from the randomized controlled trial.
Journal of medical internet research (full text)
Web survey bibliography - Journal of Medical Internet Research (32)
- Rates, Delays, and Completeness of General Practitioners’ Responses to a Postal Versus Web-Based...; 2017; Sebo, P.; Maisonneuve, H.; Cerutti, B.; Pascal Fournier, J.; Haller, D. M.
- Comparing Twitter and Online Panels for Survey Recruitment of E-Cigarette Users and Smokers; 2016; Guillory, J.; Kim, A.; Murphy, J.; Bradfield, B.; Nonnemaker, J.; Hsieh, Y. P.
- Methods for Evaluating Respondent Attrition in Web-Based Surveys; 2016; Hochheimer, C. J.; Sabo, R. T.; Krist, A. H.; Day, T.; Cyrus, J.; Woolf, S. H.
- Using Visual Analogue Scales in eHealth: Non-Response Effects in a Lifestyle Intervention; 2016; Kuhlmann, T.; Reips, U.-D.; Wienert, J.; Lippke, S.
- Participation in an Intensive Longitudinal Study with Weekly Web Surveys Over 2.5 Years; 2016; Barber, J. S.; Kusunoki, Y.; Gatny, H. H.; Schulz, P.
- Online Focus Group Discussion is a Valid and Feasible Mode When Investigating Sensitive Topics Among...; 2016; Wettergren, L.; Eriksson, L. E.; Nilsson, J.; Jarvaeus, A.; Lampic, C.
- Assessing the Effects of Participant Preference and Demographics in the Usage of Web-based Survey Questionnaires...; 2016; Mlikotic, R.; Parker, B.; Rajapakshe, R.
- Improving Inpatient Surveys: Web-Based Computer Adaptive Testing Accessed via Mobile Phone QR Codes; 2016; Chien, T. S.; Lin, W.S.
- Surveying End-of-Life Medical Decisions in France: Evaluation of an Innovative Mixed-Mode Data Collection...; 2016; Legleye, S; Pennec, S.; Monnier, A.; Stephan, A.; Brouard, N.; Bilsen, J.; Cohen, J.
- Effect of Web-Based Versus Paper-Based Questionnaires and Follow-Up Strategies on Participation Rates...; 2015; Kilsdonk, E.; van den Heuvel-Eibrink, M. M.; van Dulmen-den Broeder, E.; van der Pal, H. J. H.; van...
- Validity of Internet-Based Longitudinal Study Data: The Elephant in the Virtual Room; 2015; Pugh, C. A.; Summers, K. M.; Bronsvoort, M. C.; Handel, I. G.; Clements, D. N.
- Online Recruitment Methods for Web-Based and Mobile Health Studies: A Review of the Literature; 2015; Lane, T. S.; Armin, J.; Gordon, Ju. S.
- Response Rates for Patient-Reported Outcomes Using Web-Based Versus Paper Questionnaires: Comparison...; 2015; Horevoorts, N. J.; Vissers, P. A. J.; Mols, F.; Thong, M. S. Y.; van de Poll-Franse, L. V.
- Nonprobability Web Surveys to Measure Sexual Behaviors and Attitudes in the General Population: A Comparison...; 2014; Erens, B.; Burkill, S.; Couper, M. P.; C., Clifton, S., Tanton, C., Phelps, A., Datta, J., Mercer,...
- Evaluating a Web-based health risk assessment with tailored feedback: What does an expert focus group...; 2014; Vosbergen, S., Mahieu, G. R. Laan, E. K., Kraaijenhagen, R. A., Jaspers, M. W. M., Peek, N.
- Does Self-Selection Affect Samples' Representativeness in Online Surveys? An Investigation in Online...; 2014; Khazaal, Y., van Singer, M., Chatton, A., Achab, S., Zullino, D., Rothen, S., Khan, R., Billieux, J.,...
- Using Online Social Media for Recruitment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Positive Participants: A Cross...; 2014; Yuan, P., Bare, M. G., Johnson, M. O., Saberi, P.
- Online Survey on Twitter: A Urological Experience; 2013; Dal Moro, F.
- Internet-Based Recruitment to a Depression Prevention Intervention: Lessons From the Mood Memos Study...; 2013; Morgan, A. J., Jorm, A. F., Mackinnon, A. J.
- An Assessment of Incentive Versus Survey Length Trade-offs in a Web Survey of Radiologists; 2013; Ziegenfuss, J. Y., Niederhauser, B. D., Kallmes, D., Beebe, T. J.
- How Should Debriefing Be Undertaken in Web-Based Studies? Findings From a Randomized Controlled Trial...; 2012; McCambridge, J., Kypri, K., Wilson, A.
- Use of Web 2.0 to Recruit Australian Gay Men to an Online HIV/AIDS Survey; 2012; Theriault, N., Bi, P., Hiller, J. E., Nor, M.
- Web-Based Recruiting for Health Research Using a Social Networking Site: An Exploratory Study; 2012; Fenner, Y., Garland, P., Moore, E. E., Jayasinghe, Y., Fletcher, A., Tabrizi, S. N., Gunasekaran, B.,...
- Impact of Length or Relevance of Questionnaires on Attrition in Online Trials: Randomized Controlled...; 2011; McCambridge, J., Kalaitzaki, E., White, I. R., Khadjesari, Z., Murray, E., Linke, S., Thompson, S. G...
- Methodological Issues in Internet-Mediated Research: A Randomized Comparison of Internet Versus Mailed...; 2011; Whitehead, L.
- Development of a Web-Based Survey for Monitoring Daily Health and its Application in an Epidemiological...; 2011; Sugiura, H., Ohkusa, Y., Akahane, M., Sano, T., Okabe, N., Imamura, T.
- A Comparison of Psychometric Properties Between Internet and Paper Versions of Two Depression Instruments...; 2010; Andersson, G., Engstroem, I., Hollaendare, F.
- Response rate and completeness of questionnaires: A randomized study of internet versus Paper-and-Pencil...; 2007; Holm- Christensen, K., Hjollund, H. N., Basnov, M., Kongsved, S. M.
- Following Up Nonrespondents to an Online Weight Management Intervention: Randomized Trial Comparing...; 2007; Couper, M. P., Peytchev, A., Strecher, V., Rothert, K., Anderson, K. J.
- Will Web Surveys Ever Become Part of Mainstream Research?; 2004; Schonlau, M.
- Survey of Doctors' Experience of Patients Using the Internet; 2002; Potts, H. W. W., Wyatt, J. C., Pagerey, P. D.
- Using the Internet for surveys and health research; 2002; Eysenbach, G., Wyatt, J. C.