Readership research continues to face a number of critical issues, most notably:

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declining response rates, or increased efforts and monies to maintain current levels;

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These issues place an increasing strain on the current data collection processes. At the same time, major strides are being made on the application of the Internet and online panels for traditional market research studies. There is a continuing trend for more traditional studies to migrate from telephone, mail, and mall-based data collection processes to the use of online data collection.

This trend is placing increased demand on media readership studies to consider this technology as an alternative. Can online data collection processes help address the current issues faced by readership research? Several jurisdictions have begun the exploration of the Internet and online panels in preparation for the day when online research may be considered a viable alternative for audience measurement.

Canada is no exception. NADbank, responsible for the measurement of readership of daily newspapers across the country, recently completed a test comparing the current telephone methodology with a comparable online survey. The test was run in the Toronto CMA (Census Metropolitan Area), the largest single market in Canada.

The results from this test are presented in this paper. In summary, the results show that the demographic profiles of respondents in the online panel are different from those in the population and telephone sample. The online panel included a more balanced composition by gender but not by age group. The panel profile included fewer younger, and more older, adults than is the case in the telephone sample and in the actual population.