Web Survey Bibliography
Theoretical background. Since approximately ten years, telephone surveys in Germany belong to the most frequently used survey modes in the social sciences, which is especially due to its low costs compared with e.g. face
‐to‐face surveys and its high flexibility concerning organization and conduct (ADM 2008). However, these advantages are increasingly opposed by declining response rates in academic as well as commercial surveys. Over time, response rates have steadily diminished, whereas different sources partly supply highly diverse figures: some report on response rates below 40 percent, some on rates around 70 percent (cf. Berinsky 2008, 309f; De Leeuw & De Heer 2002; Schnell, Hill & Esser 1999, 286ff.). The key explanations are non‐contact and refusals (Berinsky 2008, 310; Lavrakas 2008, 252). Our own surveys reveal that non‐contact as well as refusal rates rose within the last five years about 5‐10 percentage points, whereby the rates differ from survey to survey. While in September 2003 29 percent of all households could not be reached, in May 2008 that was the case regarding 44 percent of the households. And while in September 2003 31 percent of the interviewees refused, 43 percent did so in February 2008. Literature suggests numerous explanations for both phenomena. Non‐contact occurs e.g. because of increased mobility or the absence of a landline telephone in households (cf. Pew 2008). In Germany, around 5‐7 percent of the population do not have landline telephones but only cell phones (cf. Hunsicker & Schroth 2007). If this trend continues, telephone surveys on the basis of landlines cannot be regarded as being representative anymore. Refusals occur e.g. because of over‐surveying, insufficient trust in survey institutes or lack of time (vgl. Schnauber & Daschmann 2008). Against this background, the question arises whether telephone surveys are still feasible in the long run. First, it is possible that the non‐response is systematic and biases the survey results, which hence (as mentioned above) cannot be interpreted as being representative anymore (Schnauber & Daschmann 2008, 98). Second, the resolution of the problems or the change to another survey mode (e.g. inclusion of cell phones) would trigger high additional costs. Nevertheless, there are some approaches to meet these obstacles. By modifying e.g. the call time or the number of call attempts, the number of contacts could be improved. By altering the introductory phrases and by enhancing the professionalism of the interviewers, e.g. by extensive training, one could try to reduce refusal rates (cf. Meier, Schneid, Stegemann & Stiegler 2005). ‐term telephone surveys conducted at our department yield a huge data basis to answer the questions deduced above. On the one hand, we aim to analyze the difficulty of decreasing response rates and hence the decreasing quality of the surveys. On the other hand, we pursue the question as to whether the theoretically derived explanations for non‐contact and refusals can be confirmed by our empirical data. In summary, we try to answer the question as to whether telephone survey will still be feasible in the future or not.
Method and conduct. Long
Conference homepage (abstract)
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.