Web Survey Bibliography
The use of Computer-Assisted Web Interviews (CAWI) has increased greatly over the last decade. This increase is partly driven by technological development and increased Internet penetration, and partly by falling response rates in the traditional modes of polling (Steeh, Buskirk, Callegaro 2007). Non-response error, however, remains one of the major challenges in Internet surveys; incentives and reminders can be adopted to contrast it (Couper 2008; Hansen, Pedersen 2012). In this paper we (i) discuss strategies to obtain respondents’ e-mail addresses, (ii) report findings from an experiment on the use of text messages (Bosnjak, Neubarth, Couper, Bandilla, Kaczmirek 2008), (iii) compare the data quality of survey answers provided by “early” and “late” respondents. In 2013 we carried out an on-line survey on the educational returns of Italian students who graduated in Social Work between 2006-2012. Contact information obtained from the local universities were quite heterogeneous; in most of the cases e-mail addresses and/or telephone numbers were available. Different strategies were adopted to obtain the missing e-mail address, including the setting up of a “registration” website and the use of text messages. Sample members were first contacted by e-mail on 5th of December 2013. Non-respondents were randomly allocated to three experimental groups: (i) contact by e-mail only (T1), (ii) contact by e-mail and text message (T2), (iii) no contact (C). A week later, T1 and T2 were contacted according to their experimental mode of contact. In line with the current literature on this topic (Kaplowitz, Hadlock, Levine 2004; Steeh, Buskirk, Callegaro 2007; Bosnjak, Neubarth, Couper, Bandilla, Kaczmirek 2008), preliminary analysis of the experimental data shows that reminders are effective in improving response rates. In particular, it shows that (i) those respondents who got a reminder (T1 and T2) are more likely to respond and (ii) there are no statistically significant differences in response rates according to the type of reminder used (i. e., response rates for T1 and T2 are not statistically different). This study contributes to the current knowledge in this field in a number of ways: it discusses innovative ways of contacting respondents using different methods, including text messages, and provides experimental evidence on the use of reminders in a web survey. The major limitation of the study lies in the nature of the population under study. We focus on a population of highly educated and young (especially female) individuals and the way respondents react to reminders may vary according to the population’s
characteristics (Couper 2008; Hansen, Pedersen 2012). Results of our study have implications in terms of data quality and cost savings. Identifying innovative ways to contact respondents for whom no e-mail address is available may reduce costs and shorten the timing of the data collection; designing effective ways to incentivize respondents’ participation is key to improve response rates and possibly enhance data quality.
Web survey bibliography - Italy (57)
- Web Health Monitoring Survey: A New Approach to Enhance the Effectiveness of Telemedicine Systems; 2017; Romano, M. F.; Sardella, M. V.; Alboni, F.
- Web Health Monitoring Survey: A New Approach to Enhance the Effectiveness of Telemedicine Systems ; 2016; Romano, M. F.; Sardella, M. V.; Alboni, F.
- Recommended Practices for the design of business surveys questionnaires; 2016; Macchia, S.
- Cheating in web surveys. Evidence from a split-ballot repeated experiment on knowledge questions on...; 2015; Ladini, R.; Vezzoni, C.
- 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...
- The invisible Interviewer: Old and New Methodological Issues in Online Research; 2014; Niero, M.
- The need of and the demand for completing surveys on mobile devices; 2014; Toninelli, D., Revilla, M., Ochoa, C.
- Survey participation via mobile devices in a probability-based online-panel: Prevalence, determinants...; 2014; Poggio, T., Bosnjak, M., Weyandt, K.
- Web-respondent-driven sampling; 2014; Bianchi, A., Biffignandi, S., Artaz, R.
- Prioritisation of alternatives with analytical hierarchy process plus response latency and web survey...; 2014; Barone, S. Errore, A., Lombardo, A.
- Modelling ”don’t know” responses in rating scales; 2014; Manisera, M., Zuccolotto, P.
- How much is shorter CAWI questionnaire VS CATI questionnaire?; 2014; Bartoli, B.
- Online mobile surveys in Italy: coverage and other methodological challenges; 2014; Poggio, T.
- Migraine and pregnancy: an internet survey; 2013; Allais, G. et al.
- The internet user profile of Italian families of patients with rare diseases: a web survey; 2013; Tozzi, A. E., Mingarelli, R., Agricola, E., Gonfiantini, M., Pandolfi, E., Carloni, E., Gesualdo, F.,...
- Web Surveys and Official Statistics: Perspectives and Cases ; 2013; Martelli, B.
- The challenge of a mixed-mode design survey and new IT tools application: the case of the Italian Structure...; 2013; Cardinaleschi, S., De Santis, S., Rocci, F., Spinelli, V.
- The Design of the Online Questionnaire of the Italian Population Census ; 2013; Tininini, L., Virgillito, A.
- The behaviour of respondents while filling in a web questionnaire: the case of the Italian business...; 2013; Masselli, M., Nuccitelli, A.
- A web-based Census of services: an ISTAT evolutionary study ; 2013; Cesaro, A., Palazzi, B., Paterniti, M., Ranaldi, P.
- A web based management system for addressing census complexity: the Italian experience; 2013; Bruno, M., Giacummo, M., Silipo, M., Vaste, G.
- Online Survey on Twitter: A Urological Experience; 2013; Dal Moro, F.
- Web Panel Representativeness; 2013; Bianchi, A., Biffignandi, S.
- Measuring the impact of the Web: Rasch modelling for survey evaluation; 2013; Annoni, P., Weziak-Bialowolska, D., Farhan, H.
- Responsive design for mixed-mode panel data; 2013; Bianchi, A., Biffignandi, S.
- Adjusting for bias in a mixed-mode CAWI survey on University students ; 2013; Clerici, R., Giraldo, A.
- Comparative analysis of data from web and face-to-face surveys. A case study on e-commerce in young...; 2013; Cappello, C., Pellegrino, D.
- The Relation of Survey Topic and Participation Behavior. Analyzing Unit Nonresponse using web-generated...; 2013; Zillmann, D., Schmitz, A., Blossfeld, H. P.
- A walking exercise on a tightrope: trying to balance coverage, probabilistic sampling and the costs...; 2013; Poggio, T.
- Norme di qualita' Assirm (Assirm quality rules]; 2012
- Social research in online context: methodological reflections on web surveys from a case study; 2012; Pandolfini, V.
- Survey Data Collection and Integration; 2012; Davino, C., Fabbris, L.
- Online Data Collection in the Agro-Food Sector; 2012; Biffignandi, S., Artaz, R.
- Mobile Survey Participation Rates in Commercial Market Research: A Meta-Analysis; 2012; Bosnjak, M., Poggio, T., Becker, K. R., Funke, F., Wachenfeld, A., Fischer, B.
- Panel retention rate and data quality: experimental results drawing on Reciprocity design; 2012; Biffignandi, S., Artaz, R.
- Web Surveys: Methodological Problems and Research Perspectives; 2012; Biffignandi, S., Bethlehem, J.
- A Generalized System for Aided Development and Monitoring of Web Surveys; 2011; Torelli, R.
- Using survey data collection as a tool for improving the survey process; 2011; Biffignandi, S., Perani, G., Laureti, A.
- Facebook sampling methods: some methodological proposals; 2011; Macrì, E., Tessitore, C.
- Errors within web-based surveys: a comparison between two different tools for the analysis of tourist...; 2011; Polizzi, G., Oliveri, A. M.
- Use of new technologies in social research: Self-administered mobile surveys; 2011; Bosnjak, M.
- Modeling non-sampling errors and participation in Web surveys; 2010; Biffignandi, S.
- Web-based macroseismic survey in Italy: method validation and results; 2010; Sbarra P., Tosi, P., De Rubeis, V.
- Web-based versus paper-based data collection for the evaluation of teaching activity: empirical evidence...; 2010; Lalla, M., Ferrari, D.
- Web based macroseismic survey: fast information exchange and elaboration of seismic intensity effects...; 2009; De Rubeis, V., Sbarra P., Sorrentino, D., Tosi, P.
- Factors Contributing to Participation in Web‐based Surveys among Italian University Graduates; 2009; Cimini, C., Girottu, C., Gasperoni, G.
- Integration of different data collection techniques using the propensity score; 2009; Camillo, F., Conti, V., Ghiselli, S.
- Modelling online survey participation among Italian university graduates ; 2009; Cimini, C., Girotti, C., Gasperoni, G.
- Coverage rates of mobile telephones and the Internet in Italy ; 2009; Fabbris, L., Gorelli, S.
- An experiment on the effects of non-response reweighting on estimators' precision in a web survey; 2009; Fabrizi, E., Biffignandi, S., Toninelli, D.