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 (367)
- Displaying Videos in Web Surveys: Implications for Complete Viewing and Survey Responses; 2017; Mendelson, J.; Lee Gibson, J.; Romano Bergstrom, J. C.
- Ideal and maximum length for a web survey; 2017; Revilla, M.; Ochoa, C.
- Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences; 2017; Liamputtong, P.
- Web Survey Gamification - Increasing Data Quality in Web Surveys by Using Game Design Elements; 2017; Schacht, S.; Keusch, F.; Bergmann, N.; Morana, S.
- Effects of sampling procedure on data quality in a web survey; 2017; Rimac, I.; Ogresta, J.
- Comparability of web and telephone surveys for the measurement of subjective well-being; 2017; Sarracino, F.; Riillo, C. F. A.; Mikucka, M.
- A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Incentives on Response Rate in Online Survey Studies; 2017; Mohammad Asire, A.
- Interviewer effects on onliner and offliner participation in the German Internet Panel; 2017; Herzing, J. M. E.; Blom, A. G.; Meuleman, B.
- Interviewer Gender and Survey Responses: The Effects of Humanizing Cues Variations; 2017; Jablonski, W.; Krzewinska, A.; Grzeszkiewicz-Radulska, K.
- Comparing the same Questionnaire between five Online Panels: A Study of the Effect of Recruitment Strategy...; 2017; Schnell, R.; Panreck, L.
- Do distractions during web survey completion affect data quality? Findings from a laboratory experiment...; 2017; Wenz, A.
- Predicting Breakoffs in Web Surveys; 2017; Mittereder, F.; West, B. T.
- The 2016 Canadian Census: An Innovative Wave Collection Methodology to Maximize Self-Response and Internet...; 2017; Mathieu, P.
- Push2web or less is more? Experimental evidence from a mixed-mode population survey at the community...; 2017; Neumann, R.; Haeder, M.; Brust, O.; Dittrich, E.; von Hermanni, H.
- In search of best practices; 2017; Kappelhof, J. W. S.; Steijn, S.
- The perils of non-probability sampling; 2017; Bethlehem, J.
- Nonresponse in Organizational Surveying: Attitudinal Distribution Form and Conditional Response Probabilities...; 2017; Kulas, J. T.; Robinson, D. H.; Kellar, D. Z.; Smith, J. A.
- Theory and Practice in Nonprobability Surveys: Parallels between Causal Inference and Survey Inference...; 2017; Mercer, A. W.; Kreuter, F.; Keeter, S.; Stuart, E. A.
- Reducing speeding in web surveys by providing immediate feedback; 2017; Conrad, F.; Tourangeau, R.; Couper, M. P.; Zhang, C.
- A Working Example of How to Use Artificial Intelligence To Automate and Transform Surveys Into Customer...; 2017; Neve, S.
- A Case Study on Evaluating the Relevance of Some Rules for Writing Requirements through an Online Survey...; 2017; Warnier, M.; Condamines, A.
- Estimating the Impact of Measurement Differences Introduced by Efforts to Reach a Balanced Response...; 2017; Kappelhof, J. W. S.; De Leeuw, E. D.
- Targeted letters: Effects on sample composition and item non-response; 2017; Bianchi, A.; Biffignandi, S.
- Analyzing Survey Characteristics, Participation, and Evaluation Across 186 Surveys in an Online Opt-...; 2017; Revilla, M.
- Careless Response and Attrition as Sources of Bias in Online Survey Assessments of Personality Traits...; 2017; Meade, A. W.; Ward, M. K.; Alfred, C. M.; Pappalardo, G.; Stoughton, J. W.
- Do Incentives Increase Response Rates to an Internet Survey of American Evaluation Association Members...; 2017; Wilson, L. N.
- Examining Completion Rates in Web Surveys via Over 25,000 Real-World Surveys; 2017; Liu, M.; Wronski, L.
- Data collection mode differences between national face-to-face and web surveys on gender inequality...; 2017; Liu, M.
- Improving survey response rates: The effect of embedded questions in web survey email Invitations; 2017; Liu, M.; Inchausti, N.
- An experimental comparison of web-push vs. paper-only survey procedures for conducting an in-depth health...; 2017; McMaster, H. S.; LeardMann, C. A.; Speigle, S.; Dillman, D. A.
- Demographic Question Placement: Effect on Item Response Rates and Means of a Veterans Health Administration...; 2017; Teclaw, R.; Price, M.; Osatuke, K.
- Effects of Applying Multimedia and Dialogue Box to Web Survey Design; 2017; Chen, H.
- Role of online survey tools in creating temporally accurate Environmental Product Declarations (EPD)...; 2017; Ganguly, I.; Bowers, T.; Pierobon, F.; Eastin, I.
- A test of sample matching using a pseudo-web sample; 2017; Chatrchi, G., Gambino, J.
- A Partially Successful Attempt to Integrate a Web-Recruited Cohort into an Address-Based Sample; 2017; Kott, P. S., Farrelly, M., Kamyab, K.
- Grundzüge des Datenschutzrechts und aktuelle Datenschutzprobleme in der Markt- und Sozialforschung; 2017; Schweizer, A.
- Data chunking for mobile web: effects on data quality; 2017; Lugtig, P. J.; Toepoel, V.
- Comparing data quality and cost from three modes of on-board transit surveys ; 2017; Agrawal, A. W.; Granger-Bevan, S.; W.; Newmark, G. L.; Nixon, H.
- Finding and Investigating Geographical Data Online; 2017; Martin, D.; Cockings, S.; Leung, S.
- Three Methods for Occupation Coding Based on Statistical Learning; 2017; Geweon, H.; Schonlau, L.; Blohum, M.; Steiner, St.
- Dynamic Question Ordering in Online Surveys; 2016; Early, K.; Mankoff, J.; Fienberg, S. E.
- How to use online surveys to understand human behaviour concerning window opening in terms of building...; 2016; Fabbri, K.
- Impact of satisficing behavior in online surveys on consumer preference and welfare estimates; 2016; Gao, Z.; House, L. A.; Bi, X.
- Targeted Appeals for Participation in Letters to Panel Survey Members; 2016; Lynn, P.
- Can we assess representativeness of cross-national surveys using the education variable?; 2016; Ortmanns, V.; Schneider, S.
- Methodological Aspects of Central Left-Right Scale Placement in a Cross-national Perspective; 2016; Scholz, E.; Zuell, C.
- Fieldwork Effort, Response Rate, and the Distribution of Survey Outcomes: A Multilevel Meta-analysis; 2016; Sturgis, P.; Williams, Jo.; Brunton-Smith, I.; Moore, J.
- Comparison of Face-to-Face and Web Surveys on the Topic of Homosexual Rights; 2016; Liu, M.; Wang, Yic.
- Question order sensitivity of subjective well-being measures: focus on life satisfaction, self-rated...; 2016; Lee, S.; McClain, C.; Webster, N.; Han, S.
- Web-Based Statistical Sampling and Analysis; 2016; Quinn, A.; Larson, K.