Web Survey Bibliography
Title Reducing speeding in web surveys by providing immediate feedback
Author Conrad, F.; Tourangeau, R.; Couper, M. P.; Zhang, C.
Source Survey Research Methods; 11, 1, pp. 45-61
Year 2017
Access date 24.08.2017
Abstract It is well known that survey respondents reduce the effort they invest in answering questions by taking mental shortcuts – survey satisficing. This is a concern because such shortcuts can reduce the quality of responses and, potentially, the accuracy of survey estimates. This article explores “speeding,” an extreme type of satisficing, which we define as answering so quickly that respondents cannot give much, if any, thought to their answers. We test an interactive prompting technique designed to reduce speeding among online respondents. When respondents answered faster than a minimal response time threshold, they received a message encouraging them to answer carefully and take their time. Across six web survey experiments, this prompting technique reduced speeding on subsequent questions compared to a no prompt control. Prompting slowed response times whether the speeding that triggered the prompt occurred early or late in the questionnaire, in the first or later waves of a longitudinal survey, among respondents recruited from non-probability or probability panels, or whether the prompt was delivered on only the first or on all speeding episodes. In addition to reducing speeding, the prompts increased response accuracy on simple arithmetic questions for a key subgroup. Prompting also reduced later straightlining in one experiment, suggesting the benefits may generalize to other types of mental shortcuts. Although the prompting could have annoyed respondents, it was not accompanied by a noticeable increase in breakoffs. As an alternative technique, respondents in one experiment were asked to explicitly commit to respond careful. This global technique complemented the more local, interactive prompting technique on several measures. Taken together, these results suggest that interactive interventions of this sort may be useful for increasing respondents’ conscientiousness in online questionnaires, even though they are self-administered.
Access/Direct link Journal Homepage (abstract) / (full text)
Year of publication2017
Bibliographic typeJournal article
Web survey bibliography - Zhang, C. (16)
- Reducing speeding in web surveys by providing immediate feedback; 2017; Conrad, F.; Tourangeau, R.; Couper, M. P.; Zhang, C.
- Respondent mode choice in a smartphone survey ; 2017; Conrad, F. G., Schober, M. F., Antoun, C., Yan, H. Y., Hupp, A., Johnston, M., Ehlen, P., Vickers, L...
- Helping respondents provide good answers in Web surveys; 2016; Couper, M. P.; Zhang, C.
- Comparisons of Online Recruitment Strategies for Convenience Samples: Craigslist, Google AdWords, Facebook...; 2016; Antoun, C., Zhang, C., Conrad, F. G., Schober, M. F.
- A Review of Issues in Gamified Surveys; 2015; Keusch, F.; Zhang, Che.
- Speeding in Web Surveys: The tendency to answer very fast and its association with straightlining; 2013; Conrad, F. G.; Zhang, Che.
- Satisficing in Web Surveys: Implications for Data Quality and Strategies for Reduction; 2013; Zhang, Che.
- Speeding and Non-Differentiation in Web Surveys: Evidence of Correlation and Strategies for Reduction...; 2013; Zhang, Che.
- Evaluating Interactive Feedback in Computer-Assisted Self-Interviewing (CASI); 2013; Hudson, M. L., Hupp, A., Zhang, C., Schroeder, H. M.
- Database Lookup in Web Surveys; 2012; Couper, M. P., Zhang, C., Conrad, F. G., Tourangeau, R.
- Designing Interactive Interventions in Web Surveys: Humanness, Social Presence and Data Quality; 2012; Zhang, Che.
- Impact on Data Quality of Making Incentives Salient in Web Survey Invitations.; 2011; Zhang, Che.
- Professional Web Respondents and Data Quality; 2010; Conrad, F. G., Tourangeau, R., Couper, M. P., Zhang, C.
- Differences Between Internet and Non-Internet Households on Survey Items: Do These Differences Disappear...; 2009; Zhang, C., Callegaro, M., Thomas, M.
- Do we hear different voices?: Investigating the differences between internet and non-internet users...; 2009; Zhang, C., Callegaro, M., Thomas, M., DiSogra, C.
- More than the digital divide?: Investigating the differences between Internet and non-Internet users; 2008; Zhang, C., Callegaro, M., Thomas, M.