Web Survey Bibliography
Relevance&Research Question: The increasing popularity of web-surveys has triggered a heated debate about their quality for scientific use. Web-surveys offer advantages such as worldwide coverage, cost benefits and fast data collection, but are mostly not representative. Findings for developed countries consistently show that young highly educated men are overrepresented in web-surveys. While the topic of representativeness has been extensively discussed for developed countries, the question remains whether similar biases can be found for developing countries. This paper aims to explore to what extent web and face-to-face surveys produce reliable data regarding socio-demographic characteristics for eight developing countries (China, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, Uganda).
Methods&Data: We pooled data of the self-administered WageIndicator web-survey and the representative WageIndicator face-to-face surveys on work and wages (8 countries, 2010-2012, N = 16,026 web-sample; N = 18,392 face-to-face sample). Using logit analysis, the chance of inclusion in the web-sample is explored, testing three hypotheses. Comparing the web and face-to-face samples with population characteristics, we assume that both modes are confronted with the same hard-to-reach groups (H1). We assume that young, high educated, male, single and high income individuals are overrepresented in the web-sample (H2). We assume that these effects will be smaller in countries with a higher internet penetration rate (H3).
Results: Whereas no support is found for hard-to-reach groups (H1), the analysis shows evidence for good-to-reach groups: men and women aged 20-35 are highly overrepresented in both modes. Concerning H2 across all countries we find support that individuals aged 20-24, male, single, high educated and with a high income are more likely to be included in the web-survey. H3 is not supported. In contrast, we find smaller effects of socio-demographic characteristics (except gender) on web-survey participation for low access countries.
Added Value: Considering the problems related to surveying in developing countries web-surveys might be a promising cost- and time-efficient data collection tool to access data of populations so far under researched. This study contributes to the understanding of the nature of bias in volunteer web-surveys. Though Internet access is still low in developing countries, their fast increase makes a growth in web-surveys likely.
Web survey bibliography - 2014 (234)
- The relationship between nonresponse strategies and measurement error; 2014; Malhotra, N., Miller, J. M., Wedeking, J.
- Nonresponse and measurement error in an online panel; 2014; Roberts, C., Allum, N., Sturgis, P.
- Estimating the effects of nonresponses in online panels through imputation; 2014; Zhang, W.
- An empirical test of the impact of smartphones on panel-based online data collection; 2014; Drewes, F.
- Professional respondents in nonprobability online panels; 2014; Hillygus, D. S., Jackson, N. M., Young, M.
- Informing panel members about study results; 2014; Scherpenzeel, A., Toepoel, V.
- Determinants of the starting rate and the completion rate in online panel studies; 2014; Goeritz, A.
- The untold story of multi-mode (online and mail) consumer panels; 2014; McCutcheon, A. L., Rao, K., Kaminska, O.
- Online panels and validity; 2014; Groenlund, K., Strandberg, K.
- Assessing representativeness of a probability-based online panel in Germany; 2014; Struminskaya, B., Kaczmirek, L., Schaurer, I., Bandilla, W.
- A critical review of studies investigating the quality of data obtained with online panels based on...; 2014; Callegaro, M., Villar, A., Yeager, D. S., Krosnick, J. A.
- Online panel research: History, concepts, applications and a look at the future; 2014; Callegaro, M., Baker, R., Bethlehem, J., Goeritz, A., Krosnick, J. A., Lavrakas, P. J.
- Motives for joining nonprobability online panels and their association with survey participation behavior...; 2014; Keusch, F., Batinic, B., Mayerhofer, W.
- Improving web survey quality; 2014; Steinmetz, S., Bianchi, S. M., Tijdens, K. G., Biffignandi, S.
- WebSM Study: Survey Software in 2014; 2014; Vehovar, V., Cehovin, G., Mocnik, A.
- Design and Implementation of an Online Questionnaire Tool; 2014; Schaniel, R.
- The Influence of the Answer Box Size on Item Nonresponse to Open-Ended Questions in a Web Survey; 2014; Zuell, C., Menold, N., Koerber, S.
- What are the Links in a Web Survey Among Response Time, Quality, and Auto-Evaluation of the Efforts...; 2014; Revilla, M., Ochoa, C.
- Does Age Matter? The Influence of Age on Response Rates in a Mixed-Mode Survey; 2014; Gigliotti, L. M., Dietsch, A.
- Does the Choice of Header Images influence Responses? Findings from a Web Survey on Students’...; 2014; Barth, A.
- Methods and systems for managing an online opinion survey service; 2014; Mcloughlin, M. H., Seton, N., Blesy, K.
- Comparison of the quality estimates in a mixed-mode and a unimode design: an experiment from the European...; 2014; Revilla, M.
- Forget gamification; try writing a humanized survey; 2014; Pettit, A.
- Using respondent tweets to fill in survey gaps; 2014; Murphy, J.
- Using Paradata to Predict and to Correct for Panel Attrition in a Web-based Panel Survey; 2014; Rossmann, J., Gummer, T.
- Targeting the bias – the impact of mass media attention on sample composition and representativeness...; 2014; Steinmetz, S., Oez, F., Tijdens, K. G.
- Offline Households in the German Internet Panel; 2014; Bossert, D., Holthausen, A., Krieger, U.
- Which fieldwork method for what target group? How to improve response rate and data quality; 2014; Wulfert, T., Woppmann, A.
- Exploring selection biases for developing countries - is the web a promising tool for data collection...; 2014; Tijdens, K. G., Steinmetz, S.
- Evaluating mixed-mode redesign strategies against benchmark surveys: the case of the Crime Victimization...; 2014; Klausch, L. T., Hox, J., Schouten, B.
- The quality of ego-centered social network data in web surveys: experiments with a visual elicitation...; 2014; Marcin, B., Matzat, U., Snijders, C.
- Switching the polarity of answer options within the questionnaire and using various numbering schemes...; 2014; Struminskaya, B., Schaurer, I., Bosnjak, M.
- Measuring the very long, fuzzy tail in the occupational distribution in web-surveys; 2014; Tijdens, K. G.
- Social Media and Surveys: Collaboration, Not Competition; 2014; Couper, M. P.
- Improving cheater detection in web-based randomized response using client-side paradata; 2014; Dombrowski, K., Becker, C.
- Interest Bias – An Extreme Form of Self-Selection?; 2014; Cape, P. J., Reichert, K.
- Online Qualitative Research – Personality Matters ; 2014; Tress, F., Doessel, C.
- Increasing data quality in online surveys 4.1; 2014; Hoeckel, H.
- Moving answers with the GyroScale: Using the mobile device’s gyroscope for market research purposes...; 2014; Luetters, H., Kraus, M., Westphal, D.
- The effectiveness of recruitment strategies on general practitioner's survey response rates - a...; 2014; Pit, S. W., Pyakurel, S., Vo, T.
- Respondent-Driven Sampling of Heterosexuals at Increased Risk of HIV Infection; 2014; Batra, P., Gray, S. C., Krishna, N., Prachand, N., Robinson, W. T., Wejnert, C.
- 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.
- Social desirability is the same in offline, online, and paper surveys: A meta-analysis; 2014; Dodou, D., de Winter J. C. F.
- The impact of contact effort on mode-specific selection and measurement bias; 2014; Schouten, B., van der Laan, J., Cobben, F.
- Recent Books and Journals in Public Opinion, Survey Methods, and Survey Statistics; 2014; Callegaro, M.
- User-Generated Online Health Content: A Survey of Internet Users in the United Kingdom; 2014; Ziebland, S., Valderas, J., Lupianiez-Villanueva, F., O'Neill, B.
- Confirmation Bias in Web-Based Search: A Randomized Online Study on the Effects of Expert Information...; 2014; Schweiger, S., Oeberst, A., Cress, U.
- Social Media and Online Survey: Tools for Knowledge Management in Health Research ; 2014; Merolli, M., Sanchez, F. J. M., Gray, K.
- Using Online Social Media for Recruitment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Positive Participants: A Cross...; 2014; Yuan, P., Bare, M. G., Johnson, M. O., Saberi, P.
- Mobile Technologies for Conducting, Augmenting and Potentially Replacing Surveys: Report of the AAPOR...; 2014; Link, M. W., Murphy, J., Schober, M. F., Buskirk, T. D., Childs, J. H., Tesfaye, C.