Web Survey Bibliography
Background: The number of medical studies performed through online surveys has increased dramatically in recent years. Despite their numerous advantages (eg, sample size, facilitated access to individuals presenting stigmatizing issues), selection bias may exist in online surveys. However, evidence on the representativeness of self-selected samples in online studies is patchy.
Objective: Our objective was to explore the representativeness of a self-selected sample of online gamers using online players’ virtual characters (avatars).
Methods: All avatars belonged to individuals playing World of Warcraft (WoW), currently the most widely used online game. Avatars’ characteristics were defined using various games’ scores, reported on the WoW’s official website, and two self-selected samples from previous studies were compared with a randomly selected sample of avatars.
Results: We used scores linked to 1240 avatars (762 from the self-selected samples and 478 from the random sample). The two self-selected samples of avatars had higher scores on most of the assessed variables (except for guild membership and exploration). Furthermore, some guilds were overrepresented in the self-selected samples.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that more proficient players or players more involved in the game may be more likely to participate in online surveys. Caution is needed in the interpretation of studies based on online surveys that used a self-selection recruitment procedure. Epidemiological evidence on the reduced representativeness of sample of online surveys is warranted.
JMIR Homepage (Abstract) & (Original paper)
Web of Science Homepage (Abstract) & (Full text)
Target population
Web survey bibliography - Other (439)
- Culturally-Related Response Styles for Attitude Questions: A Comparative Analysis of Chinese and American...; 2015; Wang, Me.
- Mail survey abroad with an alternative web survey; 2015; de Rada, V. D., Domínguez-Álvarez, J. A.
- Predictors of inconsistent responding in web surveys; 2015; Akbulut, Y.
- Twelve-month prevalence and predictors of self-reported suicidal ideation and suicide attempt among...; 2015; Kang, E. H., Kim, G. M., Hyun, M. K., Choi, S. M., Kim, J. M., Woo, J. M.
- Do online access panels really need to allow and adapt surveys to mobile devices? ; 2014; Revilla, M.; Toninelli, D.; Ochoa, C.; Loewe, G.
- 640 Current trends in management of high-risk prostate cancer in Europe: Results of a web-based survey...; 2014; Briganti, A., Isbarn, H., Ost, P., Ploussard, G., Sooriakumaran, P., Van Den Bergh, R.C.N., Van Oort...
- QRTEngine: An easy solution for running online reaction time experiments using Qualtrics; 2014; Barnhoorn, J. S., Haasnoot, E., Bocanegra, B. R., van Steenbergen, H.
- Build your own social network laboratory with Social Lab: a tool for research in social media; 2014; Garaizar, P., Reips, U.-D.
- A mixed-methods study on perceptions towards use of Rapid Ethical Assessment to improve informed consent...; 2014; Addissie, A., Davey, G., Newport, M. J., Addissie, T., MacGregor, H., Feleke, Y., Farsides, B.
- Testing if Healthy Perfectionism Enhances Academic Achievement in Australian Secondary School Students...; 2014; Thorpe, E., Nettelbeck, T.
- Emotion management in online groupwork reported by Chinese students; 2014; Xu, J., Du, J., Fan, X.
- The Power of Partisanship in Brazil: Evidence from Survey Experiments; 2014; Samuels, D., Zucco, C.
- Invitation Design Elements in Web Surveys - Can One Ignore Interactions?; 2014; Mavletova, A. M., Deviatko, I., Maloshonok, N.
- Gender Differences in Internet Addiction Associated with Psychological Health Indicators Among Adolescents...; 2014; Ha, Y.-M., Hwang, W. J.
- Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials supports the use of incentives for inducing response to...; 2014; David, M. C., Ware, R. S.
- Does Self-Selection Affect Samples' Representativeness in Online Surveys? An Investigation in Online...; 2014; Khazaal, Y., van Singer, M., Chatton, A., Achab, S., Zullino, D., Rothen, S., Khan, R., Billieux, J.,...
- Internet-based survey on current practice for evaluation, prevention, and treatment of scars, hypertrophic...; 2014; Lumenta, D. B., Siepmann, E., Kamolz, L. P.
- Current Practices in Management of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in India: Results of an Online Survey; 2014; Kumar, A.
- Perceptions on developing clinical practice guidelines for traditional medicine in Korea: Results of...; 2014; Choi, J., Choi, T.-Y., A.; A., Yun, K.-J., A., Lim, H.-J., Lee, J. A., Lee, M. S.
- Recognition of and interventions for Mibyeong (subhealth) in South Korea: a national web-based survey...; 2014; Lee, J., Lee, Y., Dong, S. O., Kim, S.-H., Lee, S.
- 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.
- Motives for joining nonprobability online panels and their association with survey participation behavior...; 2014; Keusch, F., Batinic, B., Mayerhofer, W.
- Design and Implementation of an Online Questionnaire Tool; 2014; Schaniel, R.
- What are the Links in a Web Survey Among Response Time, Quality, and Auto-Evaluation of the Efforts...; 2014; Revilla, M., Ochoa, C.
- Comparison of the quality estimates in a mixed-mode and a unimode design: an experiment from the European...; 2014; Revilla, M.
- The effectiveness of recruitment strategies on general practitioner's survey response rates - a...; 2014; Pit, S. W., Pyakurel, S., Vo, T.
- 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 Media and Online Survey: Tools for Knowledge Management in Health Research ; 2014; Merolli, M., Sanchez, F. J. M., Gray, K.
- The Effect of De-Contextualisation - A Comparison of Response Behaviour in Self-Administered Surveys; 2014; Wetzelhuetter, D.
- Students First Choice – the influence of mobile mode on results; 2014; Maxl, E.
- Device Effects: How different screen sizes affect answer quality in online questionnaires; 2014; Fischer, B., Bernet, F.
- African-American breast cancer survivors’ preferences for various types of physical activity interventions...; 2014; Paxton, R., Nayak, P., Taylor, W., Chang, S., Courneya, K., Schover, L., Hodges, K., Jones, L.
- Beauty is more than screen deep: Improving the web survey respondent experience through socially-present...; 2014; Casey, T. W., Poropat, A.
- The impact of New Zealand's 2008 prohibition of piperazine-based party pills on young people'...; 2013; Sheridan, J., Dong, C. Y., Butler, R., Barnes, J.
- The relationships among nurses' job characteristics and attitudes toward web-based continuing learning...; 2013; Chiu, Y.-L., Tsai, C.-C., Fan Chiang, C.-Y.
- Does Stress Increase the Risk of Atopic Dermatitis in Adolescents? Results of the Korea Youth Risk Behavior...; 2013; Kwon, J. A., Lee, M., Park, E.-C., Park, S., Yoo, K.-B.
- Can timestamp analyses show the bottlenecks in web surveys?; 2013; Andreadis, I.
- The world in 2013. ICT facts and figures; 2013
- Evaluating Arts-Based Cancer Education Using an Internet Survey among Alaska Community Health Workers...; 2013; Cueva, M., Cueva, K., Dignan, M., Lanier, A., Kuhnley, R.
- Intra-individual variation of extreme response style in mixed-mode panel studies; 2013; Aichholzer, J.
- Advantages of a global multimodal print & digital readership survey; 2013; Cour, N., Saint-Joanis, G.
- Australia: building a 21st century readership survey; 2013; Green, A., White, H.
- The new swiss national readership survey: fit for the future ; 2013; Amschler, H., Hoffmann, J.
- Assessing data quality with time measurements of responses in the Estonian mixed-mode survey experiment...; 2013; Lumiste, K.
- Survey errors and costs - comparison of mixed-mode and face - to face ESS surveys in Estonia; 2013; Ainsaar, M., Lumiste, K., Lilleoja, L., Roots, A.
- ESS Mixed Mode Experiment Results in Estonia (CAWI and CAPI Mode Sequential Design); 2013; Ainsaar, M., Lilleoja, L., Lumiste, K., Roots, A.
- Quality of Web surveys; 2013; Revilla, M.
- The use of paradata to investigate non-response ; 2013; Vicente, P.
- Knowledge of palliative care: An online survey; 2013; Al Qadire, M.