Web Survey Bibliography
At the last ESRA conference, we presented the results of a vignette-based study in the Netherlands exploring how best to inform respondents about the capture of paradata in Web surveys. We found that any disclosure of paradata capture reduced willingness to participate.
In an attempt to improve willingness to allow the use of paradata, we carried out two further experiments in the U.S., one in a probability-based panel (n=5,550) and one in an opt-in panel (n=9,206). We varied a number of factors across the two studies, including the descriptions of paradata capture (e.g., reasons given, amount of information provided), the time of the consent request (at the beginning or end of the survey), the sensitivity of the topic, and (in one condition) directly asked for permission to use the paradata from the current survey (as opposed to using hypothetical vignettes).
Although there is considerable variation in results between the two studies, in general they reinforce the earlier finding that informing respondents of paradata capture is likely to reduce their willingness to participate in Web surveys, especially when they are asked for their consent directly. In the condition where we asked respondents at the end of the survey for permission to use their paradata, 31% declined. We will describe the results of the three studies, consider possible alternatives to the methods of informing respondents we have been using, and discuss implications for practice.
Conference Homepage (abstract)
Web survey bibliography - Singer, E. (17)
- Informed Consent for Web Paradata Use; 2013; Couper, M. P., Singer, E.
- Incentives for college student participation in web-based substance use surveys; 2013; Patrick, M. E., Singer, E., Boyd, C. J., Cranford, J. A., McCabe, S. E.
- The Use and Effects of Incentives in Surveys; 2012; Singer, E.
- The Uses of Open-Ended Questions in Quantitative Surveys; 2011; Singer, E., Couper, M. P.
- Toward a Benefit-Cost Theory of Survey Participation: Evidence, Further Tests, and Implications; 2011; Singer, E.
- Communicating Disclosure Risk in Informed Consent Statements; 2010; Singer, E., Couper, M. P.
- Ethical Considerations in the Use of Paradata in Web Surveys; 2009; Couper, M. P., Singer, E.
- Survey Methodology (Wiley Series in Survey Methodology); 2009; Groves, R. M., Fowler, F. J., Couper, M. P., Lepkowski, J. M., Singer, E., Tourangeau, R.
- Privacy, confidentiality, and response burden as factors in telephone survey nonresponse; 2008; Singer, E., Presser, S.
- Introduction nonresponse bias in household surveys ; 2006; Singer, E.
- Experiments in Producing Nonresponse Bias ; 2006; Groves, R. M., Couper, M. P., Presser, S., Singer, E., Tourangeau, R., Piani Acosta, G., Nelson, Li.
- Does Voice Matter? An Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Experiment; 2004; Couper, M. P., Singer, E., Tourangeau, R.
- Methods for Testing and Evaluating Survey Questions; 2004; Presser, S., Couper, M. P., Lessler, J. T., Martin, E., Martin, J., Rothgeb, J. M., Singer, E.
- Understanding the effects of audio-CASI on self-reports of sensitive behavior; 2003; Couper, M. P., Singer, E., Tourangeau, R.
- The use of incentives to reduce nonresponse household surveys; 2002; Singer, E.
- Leverage-saliency theory of survey participation; 2000; Groves, R. M., Singer, E., Corning, A.
- The Effect of Incentives on Response Rates in Interviewer-Mediated Surveys; 1999; Singer, E., van Hoewyk, J., Gebler, N., Raghunathan, T., McGonagle, K.