Web Survey Bibliography
Because of its interactive character the web may promote more accurate survey data than do other modes. One way that interactivity can increase data quality is by providing feedback to respondents about their answers. For example, questions known as tally or constant sum items require that multiple answers sum to a fixed total, e.g. 24 hours or 100 percent; for these items a web questionnaire can inform the respondent about whether or not their individual answers add-up to the target value. Designers can provide this feedback when the respondent submits the entire set of responses or in a running tally that is incremented as the respondent enters each component answer. We report three experiments that investigate how this kind of feedback aects the quality of answers for tally items. In experiment 1 we found that if the computer displays a running tally this increased the number of totals equal to the target sum (100% of a respondents internet usage) relative to feedback that is delayed until after the total is submitted, which in turn led to more totals equaling the target than no feedback. While promising, this result really concerns the number of well-formed answers (i.e., those equal to the target) which is not necessarily the same as the number of accurate answers because some respondents may produce a well-formed answer by adjusting one or two component answers to make the total add to the target without improving the accuracy of the components. So in experiments 2 and 3 we asked whether feedback about the total also led to more accurate data. In experiment 2, respondents reported how long it had taken them to complete each section of the questionnaire they were just nishing and we compared this to their actual times; the difference between their self-reports and the server-recorded durations was smaller when a running tally was displayed than when it was not. In experiment 3 we asked respondents to report how much time they had spent on each of several activities in the previous day and compared their time use estimates to published population estimates. Again, the running tally led to smaller dierences between the self- and published reports than when this feedback was not provided. Taken together, the studies suggest that the interactivity of the web can improve both the form and the accuracy of answers for this type of item. It is not possible to provide feedback like this with self-administered paper questionnaires and it is not easy to do so in interviews so this may be a case where web administration adds clear value over other modes of data collection.
Conference homepage (abstract)
Web survey bibliography - European survey research associaton conference 2009, ESRA, Warsaw (31)
- An experimental mixed mode design on a general population survey ; 2009; Eva, G.
- Presentation of a Single Item versus a Grid: Effects on the Vitality and Mental Health Scales of the...; 2009; Callegaro, M., Shand-Lubbers, J., Dennis, J. M.
- Survey Research in Virtual Worlds: Second Life R as a Research Platform; 2009; Hill, C., Dean, E.
- Elderly in an Internet panel, the quality of the data; 2009; Vis, C.
- Computer-Assisted Audio Recording (CARI): Repurposing a Tool for Evaluating Comparative Instrument Design...; 2009; Edwards, B., Hicks, W., Tourangeau, K., Harris-Kojetin, L., Moss, A.
- Do online translated questionnaires result in higher response rates for patient surveys?; 2009; Boyd, J., Davis, A.
- A comparison of two mixed mode designs: cati-capi and web-cati-capi; 2009; Beukenhorst, D., Wetzels, W.
- Comparison between Liss panel (web) and ESS data (face to face); 2009; Revilla, M., Saris, W. E.
- Is a cell phone really a personal device? Results from the first wave of a mobile phone panel on sharing...; 2009; Fuchs, M., Busse, B.
- Mobile Phone Surveys in Germany – Response rates and response behaviour; 2009; Hader, S., Schneiderat, G.
- Ethical Considerations in the Use of Paradata in Web Surveys; 2009; Couper, M. P., Singer, E.
- Interviewer voice characteristics and productivity in telephone surveys; 2009; Best, H., Bauer, G., Steinkopf, L.
- Standardized recall aids for online life course surveys; 2009; Glasner, T.
- The impact of forgiving wording and question context on social desirability bias in sensitive surveys...; 2009; Naher, A.- F., Krumpal, I.
- Interactive feedback can improve accuracy of responses in web surveys; 2009; Conrad, F. G., Couper, M. P., Tourangeau, R., Galesic, M.
- The influence of the field time on data quality in list-based Web surveys; 2009; Goeritz, A., Stieger, S.
- Online Analysis and Programmed Disclosure Risk Protection: New Access to Restricted-use Microdata; 2009; McFarland O’Rourke, J., Rush, S. H., Maxwell, C.
- Using the Available On-line Secondary Data in Education and Research Practice; 2009; Perek-Bialas, J.
- Nice portal! But where is the data . . . ? - Experiences of a data archive with offering online access...; 2009; Mauer, R.
- Making Use of Online Survey Documentation & Analysis; 2009; Terwey, M.
- Access to Survey Data on the Internet; 2009; Kolsrud, K.
- Individual Follow-up of the Target Population: the Plural Strategies of a Web Survey; 2009; Markou, E., de Cledat, B., Razafindratsima, N., Laurent, R., Issenhuth, P.
- The influence of selective nonresponse in the analysis of levels of annoyance and sleep disturbance...; 2009; Breugelmans, O.
- Motivating different groups: questionnaire topic and participation rates; 2009; Marchand, M.
- The Internet sample; 2009; Getka-Wilczynska, E.
- Selection bias in Internet panels: challenge or dead blow?; 2009; Lensvelt-Mulders, G. J.
- Presentation of WEBSURVNET; 2009; de Pedraza, P., Steinmetz, S., Tijdens, K.
- Telephone Survey and political behaviour estimates in 22 European countries: Evaluating the need for...; 2009; Hufken, V.
- Self-Selected Samples in Customer Satisfaction Surveys; 2009; Nicolini, G., Dalla Valle, L.
- What to do if Probability Sampling is Impossible in a Web Survey?; 2009; Markou, E., Razafindratsima, N., de Cledat, B., Issenhuth, P., Laurent, R.
- New Challenges in Sampling: Introduction; 2009; Laaksonen, S.