Web Survey Bibliography
Title The Effect of an Explicit “Decline to Answer” Option in Web Surveys
Author Broach, R. J., Ahsan, S., Hoffer, T. B.
Year 2004
Access date 30.06.2004
Abstract Web surveys often include an explicit “Decline to Answer” response option in closed-ended questions. This explicit “Decline to Answer” option can take a variety of forms such as “Decline to Answer,” “Refuse to Answer,’ “Refuse/Don’t Know,” and “Prefer not to Answer.” Hypotheses about the impact of explicit “Decline to Answer” options relate both to item response rates and mode effects in mixed mode surveys. At the item level, one hypothesis is that an explicit “Decline to Answer” option will decrease item nonresponse by eliminating accidental skips; another is that it will increase item nonresponse by making prominent the option to refuse. An important mode effect hypothesis is that the explicit “Decline to Answer” can be a source of mode effects for surveys employing multiple data collection modes since neither paper-based SAQs nor CATI questionnaires typically include explicit “Decline to Answer” options as a response category. The National Opinion Research Center (NORC) programmed the 2003 Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR) Web questionnaire without offering a “Decline to Answer” option as a response category for closed-ended questions. This setup allowed the user to continue past a question without answering by clicking the “Continue” button without selecting an option category. We compare the item non-response on selected items in this questionnaire with item non-response from similar questions on other NORC web-based studies where an explicit “Decline to Answer” option was provided. We also compare item non-response to selected items on the paper-based SAQ version of the SDR survey. We evaluate the impact of the explicit “Decline to Answer” option on overall item non-response in the survey and we discuss the value of additional programming that may be required to implement a Web instrument without an explicit “Decline to Answer” option.
Year of publication2004
Bibliographic typeConferences, workshops, tutorials, presentations
Web Survey Bibliography - 2004 (512)
- Meta Analysis of Reliability and Validity Estimates for Egocentered Network Data Using a Multilevel...; 2004; Coenders, G., Coromina, L.
- Collecting Data on Ego-Centered Social Networks on the Web: Methodological Issues; 2004; Lozar Manfreda, K., Koren, G., Vehovar, V., Hlebec, V.
- Effects of Immediate versus Delayed Notification of Prize Draw Results and Announced Survey Duration...; 2004; Tuten, T. L., Galesic, M., Bosnjak, M.
- A Comparison of Lab-Based and On-Site Usability Testing; 2004; Dean, E.
- To Do or Not to Do?: A Comparison of Behavioral Intention Measures; 2004; Thomas, R. K., Behnke, C. S., Johnson, A. M.
- Item Non-response: Don't Know about Mandatory Responses?; 2004; Thomas, R. K., Johnson, A. M., Behnke, C. S.
- A Global Study of Knowledge Workers: Using the Internet, Dealing with Cultural Variation, and Commercial...; 2004; Day, R., Ross, J.
- Cognitive Interviewing and the Use of Visual Design Principles: A Case Study; 2004; Stettler, K., Nguyen, T.
- Is the American Public as Informed about Science as They Say They Are?; 2004; Gentry, R. J.
- Effects of Mode of Interview, and moderating variables on Erectile and Ejaculatory Function Measures; 2004; Catania, J.A., Rosen, R. J., Wood Johnson, R., Jacobs, S., Sallis, J., Shpilsky, A.
- CASI Supplemental Survey Nonresponse; 2004; Kim, J., Smith, T. W., Kim, S., Kang, J.-H., Berktold, J.
- The Effects of Correcting for Sample Selection Bias in Internet Panel Surveys Based on Random Digit...; 2004; Cameron, T. A., de Shazo, J. R., Dennis, J. M., Lee, R. J.
- Moving BRFSS from RDD to Multimode: A Web/Mail/Telephone Experiment; 2004; Mokdad, A., Link, M. W.
- Web Survey Design and Implementation - SOLD OUT; 2004; Couper, M. P.
- Implementing Web-based Statistical Tools; 2004; West, W.
- Competitive Advantage with eSTAT; 2004; Ramirez, J. G., Ramirez, B., Nagy, S.
- Adjusting Responses in a Nonprobability Web Panel Survey by the Propensity Score-weighting; 2004; Yoshimura, O.
- On the Variability of Estimates Based on Propensity-score-weighted Data from Web Panels; 2004; Forsman, G., Danielsson, S. , Isaksson, A.
- Propensity Score Matching as a Bias Correction Method for Internet-based Studies; 2004; Bremer, J., Terhanian, G., Strange, P.
- Attempting to Adjust for Selection Bias in Web Surveys with Propensity Scores: The Case of the Health...; 2004; Schonlau, M., Couper, M. P., Winter, J.
- Propensity Score Adjustment for Web Surveys; 2004; Lee, Sunghee
- Web, Mail, and Mixed-mode Data Collection in a Survey of Advanced Technology Program Applicants; 2004; Kerwin, J., Brick, P. D., Levin, K., Cantor, D., O'Brien, J., Campbell, S., Shipp, S., Wang, A.
- The Online Survey: Its Contributions and Potential Problems; 2004; McIntyre, K., Tomazic, T., Katz, B., Matsuo, H.
- The Net Effect: A Comparison of Internet vs. Mail Survey Respondents; 2004; Friedman, E. M., Clusen, N. A., Hartzell, M.
- Data Collection Mode Effects Controlling for Sample Origins in an Internet Panel Survey; 2004; Dennis, J. M., Chatt, C.
- Protocol for Converting Respondents form Touchtone to the Internet in the Current Employment Statistics...; 2004; Rosen, R. J., Harrell, L. J., Ballard, D., Wise, R., Gomes, T.
- Examinig Variety in Organizational Behavior Research: Psychological Differences Between Respondents...; 2004; Mestdagh, S., Buelens, M.
- Mobile Phone Surveys: The Slovenian Case Study; 2004; Vehovar, V., Belak, E., Batagelj, Z., Cikic, S.
- Raising response rates: What works?; 2004; Porter, S. R.
- The Internet: Marketing Researcher's Panacea or Pandora's Box?; 2004; Gurney, P.M., Chambers, E., Grant, L., Shah, S., Sullivan, M.
- Reading in Virutal Research Ethics; 2004; Anonymous
- Picture This! Exploring Visual Effects in Web Surveys; 2004; Couper, M. P., Tourangeau, R., Kenyon, K.
- Development of a Pain and Discomfort Module for Use with the WHOQOL-100; 2004; Mason, V. L., Skevington, S. M., Osborn, M.
- Virtual ethnography: A computer-based approach; 2004; Ardet, N., Thome, M.
- Developing automated e-survey and control tools: an application in industrial management; 2004; Scornavacca Jr., E., Becker, J.L., Barnes, S.
- Gathering faculty teaching evaluations by in-class and online surveys: their effects on response rates...; 2004; Dommeyer, C. J., Baum, P., Hanna, R.W., Chapman, K.S.
- Inquisite 6 Hits Market; 2004; Anonymous
- WebSurveyor Software Grants; 2004; Anonymous
- The web as an object of study; 2004; Schneider, S. M., Kirsten, F.
- Pushing at the boundaries of new media studies; 2004; Wakeford, N.
- The three ages of Internet studies: ten, five and zero years ago; 2004; Wellman, B.
- Internet/cybercuIture/ digital culture/new media/ fill-in-the-blank studies; 2004; Silver, D.
- Augmenting the BRFSS RDD Design with Mail and Web Modes: Results from a Multi-State Experiment; 2004; Roe, D., Jiles, R., Weiner, J., Mokdad, A., Link, M. W.
- Comparing Face to Face, Telephone, Paper Self-Administered, and Web Survey Measurement; 2004; Tortora, R. D., Groves, R. M., Peytcheva, E., Manchin, R.
- Comparison of Web, Mail, and Mixed-Mode Data Collection Methods in a Survey of R&D Funding; 2004; Brick, P. D., Kerwin, J., Levin, K., Cantor, D., O'Brien, J., Wang, A., Campbell, S., Shipp, S.
- Survey Mode Preferences of Business Respondents; 2004; Tarnai, J., Paxon, M. C.
- Respect Thy Respondent Part II: Good Manners for Web surveys; 2004; Featherston, F., Moy, L.
- Fast Timse and Simple Questions: The Effects of Age, Experience and Question Complexity on Web Survey...; 2004; Yan, T., Tourangeau, R.
- Race-of-Interviewer Effects: What Happens on the Web?; 2004; Krysan, M., Couper, M. P.
- How Visual Grouping Influences Answers To Internet Surveys; 2004; Smyth, J. D., Dillman, D. A., Christian, L. M., Stern, M. J.