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Web Survey Bibliography

Title Gender-of-Interviewer Effects in a Video-Enhanced Web Survey: Results from a Randomized Field Experiment
Author Fuchs, M.
Source Social Psychology, 40, 1, pp. 37-42
Year 2009
Database ScienceDirect
Access date 29.06.2009
Abstract

In this paper, a video-enhanced version of a Web surveyis assessed. Instead of written questions on a screen, a female and a male interviewer shown on prerecorded flash video clips administered the questions to the respondents. Given the more pronounced human cues induced by the audio-visual channel, we expected gender-of-interviewer effects similar to face-to-face interviews. In a field-experimental study, 880 respondents from the University of Kassel online access panel took part in a surveyon relationships, sexual behaviors, and related issues. Random subsamples saw a female or a male interviewer, respectively, while the control group answered the Web surveyin a traditional text-based Web surveymode. Results indicate that gender-of-interviewer effects occur in a video-enhanced Web surveysimilar to a face-to-face interview. Since we found same-gender effects as well as opposite-gender effects – which contradicts social distance theory – we speculate that the direction of a gender-of-interviewer effect depends on the existence of gender-related social stereotypes.

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Year of publication2009
Bibliographic typeJournal article
Full text availabilityAvailable on request
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