Web Survey Bibliography
Title Careless Response and Attrition as Sources of Bias in Online Survey Assessments of Personality Traits and Performance
Source Computers in Human Behaviour; 76, pp. 417-430
Year 2017
Database ScienceDirect
Access date 20.07.2017
Abstract The online survey is critical to organizations to efficiently collect large amounts of data about variables like performance. However, this data collection method comes with challenges. Careless responding (CR) and attrition in online surveys introduce measurement error, and can lead to several psychometric issues. Despite the common co-occurrence of CR and attrition, previous studies have looked at CR and attrition separately, which may miss their additive impact in online survey measurement. Additionally, research has focused on CR and attrition without attending to their relationships with other variables. The aims of our studies are to build the nomological network around CR and attrition, and to determine the effects of the co-occurrence of CR and attrition. We investigated (a) the extent to which personality traits relate to both CR and attrition, and (b) the extent to which CR and attrition affect estimates of the relationships between personality traits and performance. We found a relatively high base rate of carelessness (23%) and mid-study attrition (11%). Conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and agreeableness were related to survey attrition and carelessness resulting in significant differences between respondents who carefully completed the survey and those lost via attrition or careless response screening. A simulation study provided estimates of the extent of bias resulting from: 1) various amounts of attrition and carelessness, and 2) correlations between attrition and carelessness with personality traits. Although the magnitude of bias is modest in most cases, there was substantial bias (.15) in correlation estimates in some situations when screening for CR and attrition. Based on findings from the current studies and extant literature, we suggest ways researchers and practitioners can address CR and attrition to improve the accuracy of the measured relationships between variables like personality and performance, and enhance the defensibility of conclusions.
Access/Direct link Journal Homepage (abstract) / (full text)
Year of publication2017
Bibliographic typeJournal article
Web survey bibliography (367)
- Displaying Videos in Web Surveys: Implications for Complete Viewing and Survey Responses; 2017; Mendelson, J.; Lee Gibson, J.; Romano Bergstrom, J. C.
- Ideal and maximum length for a web survey; 2017; Revilla, M.; Ochoa, C.
- Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences; 2017; Liamputtong, P.
- Web Survey Gamification - Increasing Data Quality in Web Surveys by Using Game Design Elements; 2017; Schacht, S.; Keusch, F.; Bergmann, N.; Morana, S.
- Effects of sampling procedure on data quality in a web survey; 2017; Rimac, I.; Ogresta, J.
- Comparability of web and telephone surveys for the measurement of subjective well-being; 2017; Sarracino, F.; Riillo, C. F. A.; Mikucka, M.
- A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Incentives on Response Rate in Online Survey Studies; 2017; Mohammad Asire, A.
- Interviewer effects on onliner and offliner participation in the German Internet Panel; 2017; Herzing, J. M. E.; Blom, A. G.; Meuleman, B.
- Interviewer Gender and Survey Responses: The Effects of Humanizing Cues Variations; 2017; Jablonski, W.; Krzewinska, A.; Grzeszkiewicz-Radulska, K.
- Comparing the same Questionnaire between five Online Panels: A Study of the Effect of Recruitment Strategy...; 2017; Schnell, R.; Panreck, L.
- Do distractions during web survey completion affect data quality? Findings from a laboratory experiment...; 2017; Wenz, A.
- Predicting Breakoffs in Web Surveys; 2017; Mittereder, F.; West, B. T.
- The 2016 Canadian Census: An Innovative Wave Collection Methodology to Maximize Self-Response and Internet...; 2017; Mathieu, P.
- Push2web or less is more? Experimental evidence from a mixed-mode population survey at the community...; 2017; Neumann, R.; Haeder, M.; Brust, O.; Dittrich, E.; von Hermanni, H.
- In search of best practices; 2017; Kappelhof, J. W. S.; Steijn, S.
- The perils of non-probability sampling; 2017; Bethlehem, J.
- Nonresponse in Organizational Surveying: Attitudinal Distribution Form and Conditional Response Probabilities...; 2017; Kulas, J. T.; Robinson, D. H.; Kellar, D. Z.; Smith, J. A.
- Theory and Practice in Nonprobability Surveys: Parallels between Causal Inference and Survey Inference...; 2017; Mercer, A. W.; Kreuter, F.; Keeter, S.; Stuart, E. A.
- Reducing speeding in web surveys by providing immediate feedback; 2017; Conrad, F.; Tourangeau, R.; Couper, M. P.; Zhang, C.
- A Working Example of How to Use Artificial Intelligence To Automate and Transform Surveys Into Customer...; 2017; Neve, S.
- A Case Study on Evaluating the Relevance of Some Rules for Writing Requirements through an Online Survey...; 2017; Warnier, M.; Condamines, A.
- Estimating the Impact of Measurement Differences Introduced by Efforts to Reach a Balanced Response...; 2017; Kappelhof, J. W. S.; De Leeuw, E. D.
- Targeted letters: Effects on sample composition and item non-response; 2017; Bianchi, A.; Biffignandi, S.
- Analyzing Survey Characteristics, Participation, and Evaluation Across 186 Surveys in an Online Opt-...; 2017; Revilla, M.
- Careless Response and Attrition as Sources of Bias in Online Survey Assessments of Personality Traits...; 2017; Meade, A. W.; Ward, M. K.; Alfred, C. M.; Pappalardo, G.; Stoughton, J. W.
- Do Incentives Increase Response Rates to an Internet Survey of American Evaluation Association Members...; 2017; Wilson, L. N.
- Examining Completion Rates in Web Surveys via Over 25,000 Real-World Surveys; 2017; Liu, M.; Wronski, L.
- Data collection mode differences between national face-to-face and web surveys on gender inequality...; 2017; Liu, M.
- Improving survey response rates: The effect of embedded questions in web survey email Invitations; 2017; Liu, M.; Inchausti, N.
- An experimental comparison of web-push vs. paper-only survey procedures for conducting an in-depth health...; 2017; McMaster, H. S.; LeardMann, C. A.; Speigle, S.; Dillman, D. A.
- Demographic Question Placement: Effect on Item Response Rates and Means of a Veterans Health Administration...; 2017; Teclaw, R.; Price, M.; Osatuke, K.
- Effects of Applying Multimedia and Dialogue Box to Web Survey Design; 2017; Chen, H.
- Role of online survey tools in creating temporally accurate Environmental Product Declarations (EPD)...; 2017; Ganguly, I.; Bowers, T.; Pierobon, F.; Eastin, I.
- A test of sample matching using a pseudo-web sample; 2017; Chatrchi, G., Gambino, J.
- A Partially Successful Attempt to Integrate a Web-Recruited Cohort into an Address-Based Sample; 2017; Kott, P. S., Farrelly, M., Kamyab, K.
- Grundzüge des Datenschutzrechts und aktuelle Datenschutzprobleme in der Markt- und Sozialforschung; 2017; Schweizer, A.
- Data chunking for mobile web: effects on data quality; 2017; Lugtig, P. J.; Toepoel, V.
- Comparing data quality and cost from three modes of on-board transit surveys ; 2017; Agrawal, A. W.; Granger-Bevan, S.; W.; Newmark, G. L.; Nixon, H.
- Finding and Investigating Geographical Data Online; 2017; Martin, D.; Cockings, S.; Leung, S.
- Three Methods for Occupation Coding Based on Statistical Learning; 2017; Geweon, H.; Schonlau, L.; Blohum, M.; Steiner, St.
- Dynamic Question Ordering in Online Surveys; 2016; Early, K.; Mankoff, J.; Fienberg, S. E.
- How to use online surveys to understand human behaviour concerning window opening in terms of building...; 2016; Fabbri, K.
- Impact of satisficing behavior in online surveys on consumer preference and welfare estimates; 2016; Gao, Z.; House, L. A.; Bi, X.
- Targeted Appeals for Participation in Letters to Panel Survey Members; 2016; Lynn, P.
- Can we assess representativeness of cross-national surveys using the education variable?; 2016; Ortmanns, V.; Schneider, S.
- Methodological Aspects of Central Left-Right Scale Placement in a Cross-national Perspective; 2016; Scholz, E.; Zuell, C.
- Fieldwork Effort, Response Rate, and the Distribution of Survey Outcomes: A Multilevel Meta-analysis; 2016; Sturgis, P.; Williams, Jo.; Brunton-Smith, I.; Moore, J.
- Comparison of Face-to-Face and Web Surveys on the Topic of Homosexual Rights; 2016; Liu, M.; Wang, Yic.
- Question order sensitivity of subjective well-being measures: focus on life satisfaction, self-rated...; 2016; Lee, S.; McClain, C.; Webster, N.; Han, S.
- Web-Based Statistical Sampling and Analysis; 2016; Quinn, A.; Larson, K.