Web Survey Bibliography
Being the first chain in the recruiting process, variations of email invitations are known to have a strong impact on response rates and overall performance of online surveys. As different invitation emails lead to different login rates these differences carry on to the end of a survey and affect the overall completion rates (Neubarth, Kaczmirek, Bosnjak, Bandilla & Couper, 2006). Time spent on the construction and design of invitation emails is therefore well spent to ensure an optimal outcome for the whole survey.
Basically three technologies to send out emails may be distinguished. (1) Usually emails are sent in pure text format, i.e. without graphics and the login link visible in its http-format. This corresponds to the actual standard in online survey research. (2) The other two methods use the HTML-format to send out emails. Here, the standard procedure is to store graphics on an external server. When opening the message, the graphics need to be downloaded. As this might be seen as a security breach, graphics are often blocked and need an explicit user action to be shown. Blocked graphics can result in a confusing text layout and might, at best, be ignored. (3) In the third method the pictures themselves are included in the email. Hence, there are no security issues about these graphics and standard email clients display all of them at once.
In a broad series of experiments the effects of the emailing technologies on the re-sponse rate were evaluated. For this purpose the Respondi AG sent out about 18.000 invitation emails, around 6.000 for each of the three techniques stated above. In dif-ferent studies incentives, length of email, the design of the login links and the survey topics were varied among the experiments. Thus, the effect of the email technique could be proven in different frameworks.
The presentation will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the three stated email techniques. Furthermore, analyses are presented, which point out the effect of each technique on the response rates. In conclusion practical advices on how invitation emails should look like are discussed.
Die Rücklaufquote und der Gesamterfolg einer Online-Umfrage werden bereits durch die Qualität der Einladungs-Mail stark beeinflusst. Unterschiedliche Loginraten auf-grund verschiedener Einladungen setzen sich durch den gesamten Befragungsverlauf bis zum endgültigen Rücklauf fort (Neubarth, Kaczmirek, Bosnjak, Bandilla & Couper, 2006). Daher ist es äußerst wichtig bereits der Einladung einer Umfrage gro-ße Aufmerksamkeit zu widmen. In diesem Beitrag werden experimentell die techni-schen Aspekte beim Mailversand evaluiert.
Für den Versand von E-Mails stehen derzeit im Wesentlichen drei verschiedene Technologien zur Verfügung: (1) Klassisch werden E-Mails in reinem Textformat verschickt. Dies entspricht auch dem aktuellen Standard der Umfrageforschung. (2) Seit einiger Zeit besteht zusätzlich die Möglichkeit E-Mails auch im HTML-Format zu verschicken. Erforderliche Bilder werden dabei von einem externen Server nachge-laden. (3) Eine weitere Variante verschickt ebenfalls HTML-Mails. Hierbei werden die verwendeten Bilder jedoch in die Nachricht eingebunden und müssen daher nicht explizit vom Rezipienten nachgeladen werden. Verbindungen zu weiteren Servern, wie sie von den Standardclients unterbunden werden, sind dabei nicht erforderlich.
In einer umfassenden Experimentalreihe wurde der Einfluss der Mailtechnik auf die Rücklaufquote überprüft. Die Respondi AG verschickte zu diesem Zweck insgesamt ca. 18000 Einladungen, davon jeweils etwa 6000 für jede der drei oben genannten Techniken. Die verschiedenen Studien unterschieden sich außerdem hinsichtlich In-centives, Maillängen, unterschiedlich gestalteter Zugangslinks und letztlich auch in den Umfragethemen. Durch diese Variation weiterer Einflussgrößen, musste sich der Effekt der E-Mail-Technik auf den Rücklauf unter verschiedenen Rahmenbedingun-gen bewähren.
Unser Beitrag erörtert die positiven und negativen Effekte der drei genannten Techni-ken. Weiterhin werden Analysen vorgestellt, die zeigen, wie sich die Rücklaufquote durch den Einsatz der einzelnen Technologien verändert. Im Anschluss werden prak-tische Ratschläge zur Gestaltung von Einladungs-Mails diskutiert.
German Online Research Conference (GOR) 2007 (abstract)
Web Survey Bibliography - 2007 (365)
- Global market research 2007; 2007
- Estimation of the effects of measurement characteristics on the quality of survey questions; 2007; Saris, W. E., Gallhofer, I.
- Estimating frequencies of emotions and actions: A Web-based diary study; 2007; Brown, N. R. et al.
- Equivalence of electronic and off-line measures; 2007; Roberts, L. D.
- Electronic vs. conventional surveys; 2007; Dixon, R., Turner, R.
- Electronic data collection methods; 2007; Singh, M., Burgess, S.
- Bad samples; 2007
- Dual-mode electronic survey lessons and experiences; 2007; Lang, M.
- Does mode matter for modeling political choice? Evidence from the 2005 British Election Study; 2007; Sanders, D., Clarke, H. D., Stewart, M. C., Whiteley, P.
- Developments in electronic survey design for establishment surveys; 2007; O'Neill, G.
- Design and development of an electronic survey system; 2007; Aaron, B., Desai, S.
- Counterfactuals and causal inference: Methods and principles for social research; 2007; Morgan, S. L., Winship, C.
- Catch me if you can; 2007; Knapton, K., Garlick, R.
- Can I use a panel? Panel conditioning and attrition bias in panel surveys; 2007; Das, M., Toepoel, V., van Soest, A.
- Burke panel quality R&D Summary; 2007; Miller, J.
- A study of panel member attrition in the Gallup Panel; 2007; Sayles, H., Arens, Z.
- A guide to understanding Internet measurement alternatives; 2007
- A divergence-weighted independence graph for finite population surveys; 2007; Whittaker, J., Kao, C.
- A comparison of forced-choice and mark-all-that-apply formats for gathering information on health insurance...; 2007; Ericson, L., Nelson, C. T.
- Internet research ethics; 2007; Ess, C.
- Nonresponse Bias in Two Methods of Panel Recruitment ; 2007; DiSogra, C., Slotwiner, D., Clinton, S., Chan, E., Hendarwan, E., & Zheng, W.
- The 2007 Confirmit Annual Market Research Software Survey; 2007; Macer, T.; Wilson, Sheila
- The benefits of Facebook “friends:” Social capital and college students' use of online...; 2007; Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., Lampe, C.
- Trust and privacy concern within social networking sites: A comparison of Facebook and MySpace ; 2007; Dwyer, R., Passerini , K., Hiltz, S. R.
- Knitting Patterns: for interview and analysis; 2007; Jenkins, S.
- Case Study: Evolution of Web Interview Capabilities in a Large Commercial Setting; 2007; Cohen, A.
- Surveys and Technology – Polishing the Crystal Ball; 2007; Neffendorf, H.
- Choosing Web Surveys: mode choices among Youth Cohort Study respondents; 2007; Wardle, H., Robinson, C.
- Using Chat Tools to Perform Evaluation Interviews Eve-Marie Larsen; 2007; Larsen, E.-M.
- Privacy, Trust and Self-Disclosure to Web-Based Surveys; 2007; Joinson, A. N., Paine, C., Buchanan, T., Reips, U. -D.
- The Effect of Reminder Intervals on Response Rates for Web Surveys; 2007; Lemon, J. S.
- Watch What I Do! - Using graphical input controls in web surveys; 2007; Stanley, N., Jenkins, S.
- A new era of Market Research – Real-Time Sampling™ (RTS); 2007; Davis, H.
- Exploring the Practicalities of Developing Web 2.0 Applications in Online Research; 2007; Mills, J., Davies, G., Johnson, A. J.
- Survey Research in a Wireless World; 2007; Pazurik, A., Cameron, M. R.
- Whither the Web: Web 2.0 and the Changing World of Web Surveys; 2007; Couper, M. P.
- Internet-based survey design for university web sites : a case study of a Thai university ; 2007; Vate-U-Lan, P.
- Visualizing Personal Networks: Working with Participant-aided Sociograms; 2007; Hogan, B., Carrasco, J. A., Wellman, B.
- Online research ethics; 2007; Madge, C.
- Crypto law survey; 2007; Koops, B. -J.
- Crypto law survey; 2007; Koops, B. -J.
- Response time measurement in the lab and on the Web: A comparison; 2007; Galesic, M., Reips, U. -D., Kaczmirek, L., Czienskowski, U., Liske, N., von Oertzen , T.
- Multidimensionale Skalierung in der Marktforschung: Möglichkeiten und Grenzen; 2007; Ryf, S.
- Context effects in Internet Surveys: New issues and evidence; 2007; D. Dillman, D. A., Christian, L. M., Smith, A.Smyth, J. D.
- Technical considerations when implementing online research; 2007; Schmidt, W. C.
- Psychological Research on the Internet; 2007; Krantz, J. H.
- 'Going beyond the fence': Using projective techniques as survey tools to meet the challenges...; 2007; Bond, D., Ramsey, E.
- Low-Cost, Hosted Online Surveys Open up Opportunities for Businesses to Quickly Gain Insights Into and...; 2007; Ramstetter Wenzel, A.
- An Internet-Based Stated Choices Household Survey for Alternative Fuelled Vehicles ; 2007; Potoglou, D., Kanaroglou, P. S.
- No Increase in Response Rate by Adding a Web Response Option to a Postal Population Survey: A Randomized...; 2007; Brøgger, J., Nystad, W., Cappelen, I., Bakke, P.