Web Survey Bibliography
Title A meta-analysis of response rates in Web surveys compared to other survey modes
Author Lozar Manfreda, K., Vehovar, V.
Year 2004
Access date 30.06.2004
Abstract One of the questions when discussing the usefulness of Web surveys is whether they gain the same response rates compared to other survey modes. A common perception exists that in general the Web survey response rates are considerable lower. However, answering this question is not straightforward, because it is not easy to draw a clear casual inference about the impact of the Web mode on nonresponse. It is particularly difficult to isolate this casual link from other factors, such as costs, mode effect and differences in solicitation procedures. To study this problem we propose a meta-analysis of comparisons between Web and other survey modes. To isolate the impact of the mode we include only those studies where split- samples experimental designs were used. We first performed this study at the end of 2001 and included only the available comparisons done till then. However, studies fulfilling our requirements for inclusion were rather rare. The recent update expanded the meta-database and enabled a more in-depth quantitative meta-analysis about the differences in response rates. The results suggest that Web mode truly create higher nonresponse, especially for the general population of Internet users. This may be due to the fact that the Web survey methodology has not been yet developed to the extent of other modes. In addition, there exist increasing problems specific to Web surveys, such as disappearing novelty effect, over-surveyed users, spam problems, privacy concerns, and confusion with massive numbers of non-professional Web surveys. Our analysis also highlights that nonresponse is in a complex trade-off with other survey errors and survey costs. They both should be accounted for when discussing the usefulness of Web surveys.
Year of publication2004
Bibliographic typeConferences, workshops, tutorials, presentations
