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Web Survey Bibliography

Title Examining Response Rates and Patterns in a Multimode Experiment: A Study of Department Chairs/Heads in STEM Programs at Research Intensive Universities.
Year 2011
Access date 31.07.2011
Abstract

The expansion of the Internet, email, and virtual worlds has lead to new avenues for data collection. However, virtual data collection methods have left many researchers wondering if these avenues are an adequate substitute for the historically reliable methods of collecting survey data such as telephone interviewing or paper surveys. Virtual data collection can often be done at a fraction of the cost of conducting similar data collection via traditional methods (Dean et al, 2009) thereby becoming an attractive option for quick, cost-efficient data collection. However, the extent to which these virtual methods impact question response patterns and response rates compared to traditional modes is uncertain and often varies by population. Giving survey respondents the choice of mode often results in higher response rates than by a single mode alone. This is not surprising, particularly when examining response rates for online data collection, given the technological accessibility and capability of the general population. However, would this be the case with a population that not only has access to high speed Internet but who is also a frequent consumer of virtual technologies such as the World Wide Web and email? The authors seek to explore this area by examining the response rates and impact of differing mode of survey among 776 University Department Heads/Chairs - a highly educated, professional population with virtually 100% Internet accessibility. Respondents were randomly placed in one of three strata: paper only survey, web only survey, or mixed mode. Despite the generally high level of accessibility and use of the Internet, there are significantly different response rates and response patterns across the 3 groups. It is the authors‘ intent to provide an overview of the study experiment, discuss the potential impact of the differing response rates and patterns, and to discuss future research with this population.

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Year of publication2011
Bibliographic typeConferences, workshops, tutorials, presentations
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Web survey bibliography - 2011 (358)

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