Web Survey Bibliography
Socio-demographic characteristics of interviewers have a potential biasing effect on data quality. Among others race/ethnicity and gender are the most prominent characteristics analyzed in the literature. Evidence from the literature suggest, that sensitive items – especially questions on gender-related topics – evoke gender-of-interviewer effects. Sometime effects are predominant in opposite gender settings where interviewers of one sex administer a survey to a respondent of the opposite sex, sometime scholars observe reverse interrelations. So far it remains unclear whether these effect occur because respondents are prone to measurement error on the reporting stage (social desirability) or whether the gender or the interviewer modifies the perceived question meaning.
In recent years, Web surveys have become a standard survey mode. So far, online questionnaires resemble their paper counterparts to a great extend: online measurement instruments rely mostly on visually presented written questions with associated response categories. However, compared to paper and pencil questionnaires Web surveys allow for more rich communication with the respondent: graphical elements, pictures, and animated GIFs are used to enhance the appearance of web pages. As a result some Web surveys make use of a humanized interface, e. g. a picture of the investigator, pictures of people performing activities that the respondents are supposed to report on and the like. Earlier studies could demonstrate that those low-intensity humanizing elements have no or only marginal effects on the responses obtained.
However, with the wide spread availability of broadband Internet connections video and/or audio are being used in Web surveys as well. Accordingly, in this study we will assess the impact of pre-recorded video clips of interviewers reading the questions to the respondents. This should enhance the social presence of a human in the survey situation, which in turn should induce more pronounced reactions from the respondents in response to theses humanizing factors.
The paper reports results from a field-experimental study on the impact of video support in Web surveys on data quality. Within a Web survey among university students a standard interactive online questionnaire was used. A random sub-sample answered a version of the questionnaire that consists not only of written questions but also of corresponding video files of interviewers reading the questions to the respondent. 800 respondents were randomly assigned to either of three versions: (1) a traditional text-based version of the questionnaire, (2) a video-enhanced version using a female interviewer and (3) a video-enhanced version using a male interviewer. The survey covered a variety of questions on relationships and sexual behaviors including several highly sensitive items on sexual practices, sexually transmitted diseases and the like.
In the presentation we will assess the impact of the gender of the interviewer (in relation to the gender of the respondent) on standard data quality indicators: item non-response, social desirability, over- and underreporting. Preliminary finding suggest, that the video in itself does not affect data quality negatively. However, for highly sensitive questions and topics that relate to the self-presentation of the respondents in front of an opposite-gender interviewer, gender of-interviewer effects are to be observed.
General online research (GOR) 2008 (abstract)
Web survey bibliography - Germany (361)
- The Video-Enhanced Web Survey Data Quality and Cognitive Processing of Questions; 2009; Fuchs, M.
- Gender-of-Interviewer Effects in a Video-Enhanced Web Survey: Results from a Randomized Field Experiment...; 2009; Fuchs, M.
- Mobility, Flexibility and Identity - How the use of mobile questionnaires improves the data quality...; 2009; Hellwig, O., Wirth, T.
- Evaluating two different mobile survey approaches: personal mobile panel research and ad-hoc mobile...; 2009; Friedrich-Freksa, M., Metzger, G.
- Coverage- und Nonresponse-Effekte bei Online-Bevölkerungsumfragen ; 2009; Bandilla, W., Kaczmirek, L., Blohm, M., Neubarth, W.
- Using the World-Wide Web to obtain large-scale word norms: 190,212 ratings on a set of 2,654 German...; 2009; Lahl, O., Goeritz, A., Pietrowsky, R., Rosenberg, J.
- TitleInternet-basierte Messung sozialer Erwünschtheit: Theoretische Grundlagen und experimentelle Untersuchung...; 2008; Kaufmann, E., Reips, U.-D.
- Sozialforschung im Internet: Methodologie und Praxis der Online-Befragung; 2008; Jackob, N., Schoen, H., Zerback, T. (eds.)
- Does speed in completing an online questionnaire have an influence on its reliability?; 2008; Montag, C., Reuter, M.
- Response Effects in Video-enhanced Web Surveys; 2008; Fuchs, M.
- Using Internet Pages of Organisations as Data Source for Social Science Research; 2008; Baumgarten, B., Grauel, J.
- Representativeness in Online-Surveys Through Stratified Sample; 2008; Blasius, J.
- Individual payments as a longer-term incentive in online panels ; 2008; Goeritz, A., Wolff, H.-G., Goldstein, D. G.
- Communicative Channels, Cognitive Processes and Question Understanding: Results from a Randomized Field...; 2008; Fuchs, M.
- The effects of incentives in internet panels: a review; 2008; Goeritz, A.
- Phone respondents reported less mental health problems whereas mail interviewee gave higher physical...; 2008; Ravens-Sieberer, U., Erhart, M., Wetzel, R., Krügel, A., Brambosch, A.
- Mobile Market Research; 2008; Maxl, E.
- Online vs. Offline in Mobile Surveys; 2008; Neubarth, W., Maier, U.
- Gender-of-Interviewer Effects in Video-Enhanced Web Surveys. Results from a Randomized Field-Experiment...; 2008; Fuchs, M.
- Nicht-reaktive datenerhebung: Teinahmeverhalten bei befragungen mit paradaten evaluieren. [Non reactive...; 2007; Kaczmirek, L., Neubarth, W.
- Using Audio and Video Clips in Web Surveys — Feasibility and Impact on Data Quality; 2007; Fuchs, M., Funke, F.
- Sampling Bias: Face to face to Web; 2007; Bandilla, W., Blohm, M., Kaczmirek, L., Neubarth, W.
- First Experiences with Internet Surveying in the German Socio-Economic Panel; 2007; Wagner, G. G., Schupp, J., Schraepler, J.-P., Siegel, N.
- The anonymous elect. Market research through online access panels; 2006; Postoaca, A.
- Blocked versus randomized format of questionnaires. A confirmatory multigroup analysis; 2006; Sparfeldt, J. R., Schilling, S. R., Rost, D. H., Rost, D. H., Thiel, A.
- Physical or Virtual Presence of the Experimenter: Psychological Online-Experiments in Different Settings...; 2006; Ollesch, H., Heineken, E., Schulte, F. P.
- Cash Lotteries as Incentives in Online Panels; 2006; Goeritz, A.
- Putting a Questionnaire on the Web is not Enough # A Comparison of Online and Offline Surveys Conducted...; 2006; Faas, T., Schoen, H.
- Beyond response rates: Effects of different (Web-) survey implementation procedures on sample composition...; 2006; Bosnjak, M., Marcus, B., Schuetz, A., Lindner, S., Pilischenko, S.
- Controlling the Baseline Speed of Respondents: An Empirical Evaluation of Data Treatment Methods of...; 2005; Mayerl, J.
- Determinanten der Rücklaufquote in Online-Panels; 2005; Batanic, B., Moser, K.
- Standards in Online Surveys. Sources for Professional Codes of Conduct, Ethical Guidelines and Quality...; 2005; Kaczmirek, L., Schulze, N.
- Sampling procedure, questionnaire design, online implementation; 2005; Jackob, N., Arens, J., Zerback, T., Jowell, R., de Rouvray, C.
- When Methodology Interferes With Substance; 2005; Schoen, H., Faas, T.
- The Quality of Ego-Centered Network Data: A comparison of online versus offline data collection; 2005; Snijders, C., Matzat, U.
- Meta-Analyses on Contingent versus Unconditional Incentives; 2005; Goeritz, A.
- Using an access panel as a sampling frame for voluntary household surveys. Experiences from a pilot...; 2004; Korner, T., Nimmergut, A.
- Examining expert reviews as a pretest method; 2004; DeMaio, T., Landreth, A.
- Cooperation and Community on the Internet: Past Issues and Present Perspectives for theoretical-empirical...; 2004; Matzat, U.
- Response and Field Period Effects: The Effect of Time in Online Market Research and Consequences for...; 2004; Basso Larsen, R., Rathod, S.
- Online or Not Online? A Comparison of Offline and Online Surveys Conducted in the Context of 2002 German...; 2004; Faas, T.
- Changing from PAPI to CAPI: A Longitudinal Study Dealing with Mode-Effects in the German Socio-Economic...; 2004; Schraepler, J.-P., Schupp, J., Wagner, G. G
- Paper and pencil or online? Methodological Experiences from an employee survey; 2004; Poetschke, M.
- Survey Administration Effects? A Comparison of Web-Based and Traditional Written Self-Administered Surveys...; 2003; Bandilla, W., Bosnjak, M., Altdorfer, P.
- Bracketing effects in categorized survey questions and the measurement of economic quantities; 2002; Winter, J.
- WeXtor 2.5: Develop, manage, and visualize experimental designs and procedures; 2002; Reips, U.-D., Blumer, T., Neuhaus, C.
- Cognitive processes when answering online questionnaires; 2002; Fuchs, M.
- Online surveys with simple random samples for large populations; 2002; Kreuels, B.
- Sampling problems in research on personal Homepages; 2002; Marcus, B., Machilek, F., Schuetz, A., Kilian, C.
- Social desirable responding and age on the Internet: older participants in online studies show a higher...; 2002; Reips, U.-D., Stoeber, J., Hahn, A.