Web Survey Bibliography
Relevance & Research Question
When designing questionnaires, an important decision to make is whether or not to include a ‘do-not-know-option’. In interviews this dilemma is solved by not explicitly offering ‘do-not-know’, but accepting it when it occurs. Interviewers are instructed to accept a non-substantive answer only after a gentle probe.
Online surveys, being self-administered, lack an interviewer. Therefore, web survey designers are hesitant to offer an explicit do-not-know option and ‘required answer’ is often default standard software. However survey methodologist strongly advice against this forced-answer strategy. Requiring an answer does not necessarily ensure that the right answer is given and may lead to irritation and more break-offs or to guessing and less valid answers, thereby reducing data quality.
Methods and Data
The data were collected among members of the LISS panel, a probability based panel of the Dutch population. The questionnaire contained questions, which in previous self-administered surveys showed a high percentage of item-nonresponse. A three by two experimental design was used. Factor A manipulated no explicit offering vs offering do-not-know in two different ways, visually separating do-not know and offering do-not know as a special button. Factor B manipulated accepting a do-not-know vs. only accepting it after a friendly probe. Respondents were randomly assigned to experimental conditions.
Results
We found clear effects of offering ‘do-not-know’ and of probing. Not explicitly offering do-not-know (but allowing to skip) followed by a friendly probe resulted in the lowest amount of missing information. Respondent evaluations showed that when do-not-know was offered explicitly the questions were experienced as less difficult. When a probe was offered, respondents indicated that the questions made them think more (about the topic). These results suggest that offering a d-not-know without probing gives respondents an easy escape, while probing stimulates the question-answer process. The scale reliabilities support this.
Added Value
This study adds an empirical basis to the debate on whether or not to offer do-not-know options in web surveys. We show that explicitly offering a do-not-know option in a web survey is not advisable. Allowing respondents to skip a question and programming in friendly probes is a good alternative.
GOR Homepage (abstract) / (presentation)
Web survey bibliography - Germany (361)
- Experiments in Obtaining Data Linkage Consent in Web Surveys ; 2013; Sakshaug, J. W., Kreuter, F.
- On the Impact of Response Patterns on Survey Estimates from Access Panels; 2013; Enderle, T., Muennich, R., Bruch, 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.
- Random versus Systematic Error in a Mixed Mode Online-Telephone Survey; 2013; Hox, J., Scherpenzeel, A., Boeve, A., Boeve, A., de Leeuw, E. D.
- Mobile devices a way to recruit hard-to-reach groups? Results from a pilot study comparing desk top...; 2013; Toepoel, V., Lugtig, P. J.
- The Relation of Survey Topic and Participation Behavior. Analyzing Unit Nonresponse using web-generated...; 2013; Zillmann, D., Schmitz, A., Blossfeld, H. P.
- Web questionnaires in official population surveys: Do's and don'ts First experiments and impacts...; 2013; Blanke, K.
- Möglichkeiten zur impliziten Messung von Emotionen am Beispiel webcambasierter Gesichtsausdruckserkennung...; 2013; Wachenfeld, A., Moentmann, A., Bernet, F.
- Mode effects in Labour Force Surveys - do they really matter?; 2013; Koerner, T.
- Identifying and Mitigating Satisficing in Web Surveys: Some Experimental Evidence; 2013; Rossmann, J.
- Does left still feel right? The optimal position of answer boxes in Web surveys - revisited; 2013; Lenzner, T., Kaczmirek, L.,Galesic, M.
- Latent legitimacy: joint effects of religious orientation on the association between values and acceptance...; 2013; Henseler, A. K., Siegers, P., Beckers, T.
- Identifying Satisficing Respondents in Web Surveys: A Comparison of Different Response Time-Based Approaches...; 2013; Rossmann, J.
- Comparison of quality of web survey and CATI data using unobtrusive response latencies; 2013; Mayerl, J.
- Validity of Measuring Educational Attainment - Education and Value Orientation in the European Values...; 2013; Ortmanns, V.
- Using Eye Tracking Data to Understand Respondent's Processing of Rating Scales; 2013; Kunz, T., Fuchs, M.
- Advancing the field of questionnaire translation - identifying problems, discussing methods, pushing...; 2013; Behr, D., Dorer, B., Van Houten, G
- European Values Study - methodological and substantive applications; 2013; Luijkx, R., Jagodzinski, W.
- The Impact of Culture and Economy on Values and Attitudes; 2013; Duelmer, H., Voicu, M.
- Educational attainment in cross-national surveys: instrument design, data collection, harmonisation...; 2013; Schneider, S.
- Mode Effects in Mixed-Mode Surveys: Prevention, Diagnostics, and Adjustment 1; 2013; de Leeuw, E. D., Dillman, D. A., Schouten, B.
- Data Collection in Sociolinguistics: Methods and Applications; 2013; Mallinson, C., Childs, B., Van Herk, G.
- Use of Drag-and-Drop Rating Scales in Web Surveys and Its Effect on Survey Reports and Data Quality; 2013; Kunz, T.
- Online Panels: Recruitment Based on “Hot Topics” – What are the Consequences?; 2013; Andreasson, M., Martinsson, J.
- The Effectiveness of Mailed Invitations for Web Surveys; 2013; Bandilla, W., Couper, M. P., Kaczmirek, L.
- Pros and cons of virtual interviewers – vote in the discussion about surveytainment; 2013; Póltorak, M., Kowalski, J.
- The fish model: What factors affect participants while filling in an online questionnaire?; 2013; Mohamed, B., Lorenz, A., Pscheida, D.
- Interview Duration in Web Surveys: Integrating Different Levels of Explanation; 2013; Rossmann, J., Gummer, T.
- The monetary value of good questionnaire design; 2013; Tress, F.
- Technical and methodological meta-information on current practices in online research: A full population...; 2013; Burger, C., Stieger, S.
- Using interactive feedback to enhance response quality in Web surveys. The case of open-ended questions...; 2013; Emde, M., Fuchs, M.
- Reducing Response Order Effects in Check-All-That-Apply Questions by Use of Dynamic Tooltip Instructions...; 2013; Kunz, T., Fuchs, M.
- Measuring wages via a volunteer web survey – a cross-national analysis of item nonresponse; 2013; Steinmetz, S., Annmaria, B.
- Does one really know?: Avoiding noninformative answers in a reliable way.; 2013; de Leeuw, E. D., Boevee, A., Hox, J.
- Sensitive Topics in PC and Mobile Web Surveys; 2013; Mavletova, A. M., Couper, M. P.
- Mobile Research Performance: How Mobile Respondents Differ from PC Users Concerning Interview Quality...; 2013; Schmidt, S., Wenzel, O.
- Who responds to website visitor satisfaction surveys?; 2013; Andreadis, I.
- Measuring working conditions in a volunteer web survey; 2013; de Pedraza, P., Villacampa, A.
- Sampling online communities: using triplets as basis for a (semi-) automated hyperlink web crawler.; 2013; Veny, Y.
- Why are you leaving me?? - Personality predictors of answering drop out in an online-study; 2013; Thielsch, M., Nestler, S., Back, M.
- Propensity Score Weighting – Can Personality Adjust for Selectivity?; 2013; Glantz, A., Greszki, R.
- Research Design as an Influencing Factor for Reliability in Online Market Research; 2013; Wengrzik, J., Theuner, G.
- Ethics, privacy and data security in web-based course evaluation; 2013; Salaschek, M., Meese, C., Thielsch, M.
- Seducing the respondent – how to optimise invitations in on-site online research?; 2013; Póltorak, M., Kowalski, J.
- Influence of mobile devices in online surveys; 2013; Maxl, E., Baumgartner, T.
- E-questionnaire in cross-sectional household surveys; 2013; Karaganis, M.
- GESIS Online Panel Pilot: Results from a Probability-Based Online Access Panel; 2013; Kaczmirek, L., Bandilla, W., Schaurer, I., Struminskaya, B., Weyandt, K.
- Online Survey – Research with children on advertising impact; 2013; Funkenweh, V., Busch, J., Amthor, A. L., Boeer, A., Gaedke, J.
- HTML5 and mobile Web surveys: A Web experiment on new input types; 2013; Funke, F.