Web Survey Bibliography
Relevance & Research Question: We study the (non)response behaviour in web surveys using paradata which offer a full insight into the questionnaire response process, allowing to observing the behaviour of respondents when going through the questionnaire. We use Bosnjak and Tuten’s (2001) classification of seven groups of web survey participants: complete responders, unit nonresponders, answering drop-outs, lurkers, lurking drop-outs, item nonresponderns and item non-responding drop-outs. This classification is important for understanding the web survey process and to develop standardized response metrics to measure web survey (non)response rates.
Methods & Data: We applied above classification to study the behaviour of respondents in a sample of 50 surveys selected out of more than 2,000 web surveys, hosted by a web survey service at our University. Participants were classified into seven categories based on the available paradata. These include time stamps, information on participants' equipment, data on how many pages of the questionnaire were viewed and how many responses given by each respondent before quitting the survey. We develop a methodology how to use paradata to classify units into the 7 categories. A two-level statistical analysis is then performed on collected data taking into account the level of individual respondents and the level of the survey.
Results: We show that classifying participants into several response categories and study their characteristics allow better insight into the survey response process. We also show which characteristics of participants (better equipment) and which characteristics of survey design (length, topic) influence certain response behavior.
Added Value: Studying several surveys with a meta-analytical approach and performing a two-level statistical analysis is relatively rare and new approach in this area. It provides precious insight into how the survey characteristics influence the behavior. Based on that, new knowledge is generated about tailoring the questionnaire design so to minimize various types of nonresponse behaviour. In addition, results enable to propose improvements of the seven group classification scheme.
Conference Homepage (abstract)
Web survey bibliography - General Online Research Conference (GOR) 2012 (26)
- Is „chapterisation“ a viable alternative to traditional progress indicators ?; 2012; Spicer, R., Dowling, Z.
- Exploring New Pathways to Survey Recruitment; 2012; Bilgram, V., Stadler, D.Jawecki, G.
- Understanding selection bias in a worldwide, volunteer web-survey; 2012; Tijdens, K., Steinmetz, S.
- 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.
- Surveytainment 2.0: Why investing 10 more minutes more in constructing your questionnaire is worth considering...; 2012; Muehle, A., Tress, F., Schmidt, S., Winkler, T.
- Market research online community (MROC) versus focus group; 2012; Zuber, M.
- Data quality in MAWI and CAWI; 2012; Mavletova, A. M., Blasius, J.
- Time use data collection using Smartphones: Results of a pilot study among experienced and inexperienced...; 2012; Scherpenzeel, A., Sonck, N., Fernee, H., Morren, Me.
- Scrutinizing Dynamics – Rolling panel waves in theory and practice; 2012; Faas, T., Blumenberg, J. N.
- Little experience with technology as a cause of nonresponse in online surveys; 2012; Struminskaya, B., Schaurer, I., Kaczmirek, L., Bandilla, W.
- Automatic Forwarding on Web Surveys – Some Outlines and Remarks; 2012; Selkaelae, A.
- Thinking, Planning & Operationalizing Empirical Mixed Methods Research Design; 2012; Ruhi, U.
- Continuous large-scale volunteer web-surveys: The experience of Lohnspiegel and WageIndicator; 2012; Oez, F.
- Is Pretesting Established Among Online Survey Tool Users?; 2012
- An Evaluation of Two Non-Reactive Web Questionnaire Pretesting Methods; 2012; Lenzner, T.
- Recommendations for implementing online surveys and simple experiments in social and behavioural research...; 2012; Hewson, C. M.
- High potential for mobile Web surveys: Findings from a survey representative for German Internet users...; 2012; Funke, F., Wachenfeld, A.
- A taxonomy of paradata for web surveys and computer assisted self interviewing (Casi); 2012; Callegaro, M.
- Can Social Media Research replace traditional research methods?; 2012; Faber, T., Einhorn, M., Hofmann, O., Loeffler, M.
- Bad Boy Matrix Question – Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?; 2012; Tress, F.
- Matrix vs. Single Question Formats in Web Surveys: Results from a large scale experiment; 2012; Klausch, L. T., de Leeuw, E. D., Hox, J., de Jongh, A., Roberts , A.
- Effects of Static versus Dynamic Formatting Instructions for Open-Ended Numerical Questions in Web Surveys...; 2012; Kunz, T., Fuchs, M.
- FamilyVote – Conducting online surveys with children and families; 2012; Geissler, H., Peeters, H.
- The influence of social desirability on data quality in face-to-face and web surveys; 2012; Keusch, F.
- Reducing the Threat of Sensitive Questions in Online Surveys; 2012; Couper, M. P.