Web Survey Bibliography
The advent of the Internet has opened wholly new possibilities for data collecting. At the same time, several unanswered methodological pitfalls are present, possibly questioning the usability of data from web surveys. This article contributes to the scientific debate regarding the usability and reliability of web surveys in the social sciences by discussing the reliability of the data collected in passive sampling web surveys. The article analyzes two surveys containing the same questions, of which the first is based on a probabilistic offline sample, the other on a passive sampling online sample. Both surveys were aimed at measuring the respondents’ knowledge of politics. The findings related to the demographic characteristics were in-line with previous research: men, young, better educated, and politically interested persons dominated the online sample. Regarding the reliability of the results of the knowledge questions, the findings show that online surveys are capable of providing valuable and reliable information about the differences (and similarities) between different groups of respondents, that is, about general trends. However, the findings strongly suggest that passive sampling web surveys should not be used for drawing conclusions about the absolute levels of political knowledge in a population. The big question which remains is whether the Internet can be seen as just another sampling environment or does the "unstructured anonymity" of the Internet require tapping into a wholly new sampling methodology.
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Web survey bibliography (20)
- Feasibility of using a multilingual web survey in studying the health of ethnic minority youth.; 2016; Kinnunen, J. M.; Malin, M.; Raisamo, S. U.; Lindfors, P. L.; Pere, L. A.; Rimpelae, A. H.
- Online panels and validity; 2014; Groenlund, K., Strandberg, K.
- Does Gamification Work? - A Literature Review of Empirical Studies on Gamification ; 2014; Hamari, J., Koivisto, J., Sarsa, H.
- Comparison of Three Modes for a Crime Victimization Survey; 2013; Laaksonen, S., Heiskanen, M.
- Bringing usability to pretesting of Business Survey Web Forms in Statistics Finland; 2013; Rouhunkoski, J.
- The effect of language in answering qualitative questions in user experience evaluation web-surveys; 2013; Walsh, T., Nurkka, P., Petrie, H., Olson, J.
- The comparability of Don't Know answers between CATI and CAWI modes; 2013; Pohjanpaa, K., Jarvensivu, M.
- A mixed-mode survey tackling against an increasing rate of nonresponse; 2013; Jokinen, M.
- Mode Effects in Mixed-Mode Surveys: Prevention, Diagnostics, and Adjustment 1; 2013; de Leeuw, E. D., Dillman, D. A., Schouten, B.
- Choosing a Data Collection Approach: Mixed Mode Design Experiences in Statistics Finland; 2012; Taskinen, P., Kiianmaa, N.
- The Usage of a Cloud Service as an Effective Way of Sharing Cognitive and Usability Test Information; 2012; Rouhunkoski, J., Godenhjelm, P.
- Automatic Forwarding on Web Surveys – Some Outlines and Remarks; 2012; Selkaelae, A.
- Open-ended questions in the context of temporary work research; 2011; Siponen, K.
- Testing a single mode vs a mixed mode design; 2011; Laaksonen, S.
- A mixed mode pilot on consumer barometer; 2011; Taskinen, P., Simpanen, M.
- Features of the Z-scoring method in graphical two-dimensional web surveys: the case of ZEF; 2011; Selkaelae, A., Ronkainen, S., Alasaarela, E.
- Methodological and Ethical Dilemmas of Archiving Qualitative Data; 2010; Kuula, A.
- Designing Culturally Neutral Storyboard: A Case Study of Designing an Online Survey with Storyboards; 2010; Koponen, T., Varsaluoma, J., Walsh, T.
- Asking Factual Knowledge Questions: Reliability in Web-Based, Passive Sampling Surveys ; 2009; Elo, K.
- Analyses of Web Survey Data; 2007; Kuusela, V.
- Reducing Nonresponse by SMS Reminders in Mail Surveys; 2007; Virtanen, V., Sirkiä, T., Jokiranta, V. Sirkia, T.