Web Survey Bibliography
It is generally accepted that conducting surveys online is both faster and cheaper than other, more traditional, survey methodologies. Such advantages have helped to drive the growth of online surveys over recent years. In addition to the growth of online surveys, respondents are increasingly required to answer more personal and sensitive questions online. It is therefore important to investigate and understand the behaviour of respondents to sensitive questions in surveys in order to ensure the most effective methodology is employed.
A salient issue in online survey research is the removal of an interviewer. This is particularly relevant when dealing with sensitive topics - when the lack of interviewer presence can remove response bias. Much research has demonstrated that surveys administered online, without an interviewer being present, are characterised by higher levels of self disclosure (Weisband and Kiesler 1996), an increased willingness to answer sensitive questions (Tourangeau 2004) and reductions in socially desirable responding (Frick et al. 2001; Joinson 1999). Furthermore, survey methodologies that reduce the level of question administration by human interviewers (e.g. via computer-aided self interviews) also increase responses to sensitive personal questions and yield more honest, candid answers.
As part of the ongoing experimental work at Ipsos MORI we are investigating the affect of different survey methodologies on respondents’ behaviour to sensitive questions.
In the present paper we present a two part study. Part 1 searches evidence of survey mode effect on disclosure levels and examines data consisting of participants interviewed in one of three conditions. In condition one, 1,645 members of the Ipsos Online Panel completed an online survey. In condition two, 902 were interviewed offline, face-to-face using Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) interviewing. Finally, in condition three, 1028 participants were again interviewed offline, using Computer Assisted Self Interviewing (CASI). Direct comparison were possible between the two offline samples. Allocation to the online sample, on the other hand, was not randomized thus propensity score adjustment was applied to control for possible confounding of online/offline comparisons. Respondents were asked more than 50 questions about a variety of topics from politics to media consumption. Within these questions respondents were asked five which were deemed as sensitive. The topics for the sensitive items covered: immigration, adultery, drink driving, abortion, and attitudes toward debt.
Part 2 examined the association between the level of sensitivity and level of disclosure, and specifically any differences between the three survey modes. To estimate the social sensitivity an ad hoc panel of five experienced independent social researchers sampled from a larger pool of experts and were asked to rank levels of sensitivity of each of the five questions. After passing reliability tests of agreement between raters the estimated sensitivity was correlated with item disclosure level by mode.
Finally, implications for the handling of sensitive questions in survey research are discussed.
Web survey bibliography (317)
- Overview: Online Surveys; 2017; Vehovar, V.; Lozar Manfreda, K.
- Respondent mode choice in a smartphone survey ; 2017; Conrad, F. G., Schober, M. F., Antoun, C., Yan, H. Y., Hupp, A., Johnston, M., Ehlen, P., Vickers, L...
- Collecting Data from mHealth Users via SMS Surveys: A Case Study in Kenya; 2016; Johnson, D.
- Electronic and paper based data collection methods in library and information science research: A comparative...; 2016; Tella, A.
- Stable Relationships, Stable Participation? The Effects of Partnership Dissolution and Changes in Relationship...; 2016; Mueller, B.; Castiglioni, L.
- Identifying Pertinent Variables for Nonresponse Follow-Up Surveys. Lessons Learned from 4 Cases in Switzerland...; 2016; Vandenplas, C.; Joye, D.; Staehli, M. E.; Pollien, A.
- The 2013 Census Test: Piloting Methods to Reduce 2020 Census Costs; 2016; Walejko, G. K.; Miller, P. V.
- The Validity of Surveys: Online and Offline; 2016; Wiersma, W.
- Methods can matter: Where Web surveys produce different results than phone interviews; 2016; Keeter, S.
- Do Polls Still Work If People Don't Answer Their Phones?; 2016; Edwards-Levy, A.; Jackson, N. M.
- HUFFPOLLSTER: Why Reaching Latinos Is A Challenge For Pollsters; 2016; Jackson, N. M.; Edwards-Levy, A.; Velencia, J.
- Comprehension and engagement in survey interviews with virtual agents; 2016; Conrad, F. G.; Schober, M. F.; Jans, M.; Orlowski, R. A.; Nielsen, D.; Levenstein, R. M.
- An Overview of Mobile CATI Issues in Europe; 2015; Slavec, A.; Toninelli, D.
- Using Mobile Phones for High-Frequency Data Collection; 2015; Azevedo, J. P.; Ballivian, A.; Durbin, W.
- Mixed mode surveys ; 2015; Burton, J.
- Two Are Better Than One: The Use of a Mixed-Mode Data Collection to Improve the Electoral Forecast; 2014; de Rada, V. D., Pasadas del Amo, S.
- The impact of contact effort on mode-specific selection and measurement bias; 2014; Schouten, B., van der Laan, J., Cobben, F.
- How much is shorter CAWI questionnaire VS CATI questionnaire?; 2014; Bartoli, B.
- Advantages of a global multimodal print & digital readership survey; 2013; Cour, N., Saint-Joanis, G.
- Relative Mode Effects on Data Quality in Mixed-Mode Surveys by an Instrumental Variable; 2013; Vannieuwenhuyze, J. T. A., Revilla, M.
- A report on the Confirmit Market Research Software Survey 2013; 2013; Macer, T., Wilson, S.
- Mode effect analysis and adjustment in a split-sample mixed-mode Web/CATI survey; 2013; Kolenikov, S., Kennedy, C.
- Evaluating the left‐right dimension: Category Selection Probing conducted in an online access...; 2013; Huefken , V.
- Methodological, legal and technical perspectives on the feasibility of web survey paradata in German...; 2013; Sattelberger, S.
- Impact of mode design on reliability in longitudinal data; 2013; Cernat, A.
- Exploring patterns of academic usage: A Google Scholar based study of ESS, EVS, WVS and ISSP academic...; 2013; Malnar, B.
- Web questionnaires in official population surveys: Do's and don'ts First experiments and impacts...; 2013; Blanke, K.
- Mode effects in Labour Force Surveys - do they really matter?; 2013; Koerner, T.
- Measuring the same concepts in several modes in the "BIBB/BAuA-Employee-Survey 2011/12" ; 2013; Gensicke, M., Tschersich, N., Hartmann, J.
- What works? Getting the General Population To Go Online in a Mixed Mode Local Health Survey; 2013; Frigault, L.-R., Azzou, S. A. K., Molloy, E. J. K., Ammarguellat, F., Couture, M., Gratton, J.
- Using Technology to Conduct Questionnaire Evaluations with Hard to Reach Populations ; 2013; Ridolfo, H., Ott, K.
- Mode Effects in a National Establishment Survey; 2013; Daley, K., Phillips, B. T.
- Evaluating the Effect of a Non-Monetary Incentive in a Nationally Representative Mixed-Mode Establishment...; 2013; Sengupta, M., Harris-Kojetin, L., Hobbs, M., Greene, A.
- Survey Reminder Method Experiment: An Examination of Cost Efficiency and Reminder Mode Salience in the...; 2013; Anderson, M., Rogers, B., CyBulski, K., Hall, J. W., Alderks, C. E., Milazzo-Sayre, L.
- Experiences from a probability-based Internet panel: Sample, recruitment and participation; 2013; Scherpenzeel, A.
- An Evaluation of Internet Versus Paper-based Methods for Public Participation Geographic Information...; 2012; Pocewicz, A.; Nielsen-Pincus, M.; Brown, G.; Schnitzer, R.
- Using paradata to explore item-level response times in surveys; 2012; Couper, M. P., Kreuter, F.
- Specialized Tools for Measuring Past Events ; 2012; Belli, R. F.
- Modes of Data Collection; 2012; Tourangeau, R.
- Mode and non-response effects and their treatment; 2012; Chrysanthopoulos, S., Georgostathi, A.
- “I think I know what you did last summer” Improving data quality in panel surveys; 2012; Lugtig, P. J.
- Using Text-to-Speech (TTS) for Audio-CASI; 2012; Couper, M. P., Kirgis, N., Buageila, S., Berglund, P.
- Does Mode Matter? Initial Evidence from the German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES); 2012; Blumenstiel, J. E., Rossmann, J.
- The Representativity of Web Surveys of the General Population compared to Traditional Modes and Mixed...; 2012; Klausch, L. T., Schouten, B., Hox, J.
- Effects of speeding on satisficing in Mixed-Mode Surveys; 2011; Bathelt, S., Bauknecht, J.
- Web based CATI on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud and VirtualBox using queXS; 2011; Zammit, A.
- Web/Cloud Based CATI Using queXS; 2011; Zammit, A.
- When Referring to Mode, Is Expressed Preference the Same as Reality?; 2011; Denk, K.
- Three Era's of Survey Research; 2011; Groves, R. M.
- Testing a single mode vs a mixed mode design; 2011; Laaksonen, S.