Web Survey Bibliography
We present the results of six experiments that demonstrate the impact of visual features of survey questions on the responses they elicit, the response process they initiate, or both. All six experiments were embedded in Web surveys. Experiments 1 and 2 investigate the effects of the placement of nonsubstantive response options (for example, "No opinion" and "Don't know" answer options) in relation to the substantive options. The results suggest that when these options are not differentiated visually (by a line or a space) from the substantive options, respondents may be misled about the midpoint of the scale; respondents seemed to use the visual rather than the conceptual midpoint of the scale as a reference point for responding. Experiment 3, which varied the spacing of the substantive options, showed a similar result. Responses were pushed in the direction of the visual midpoint when it fell to one side of the conceptual midpoint of the response scale. Experiment 4 examined the effects of varying whether the response options, which were arrayed vertically, followed a logical progression from top to bottom. Respondents answered more quickly when the options followed a logical order. Experiment 5 examined the effects of the placement of an unfamiliar item among a series of similar items. For example, one set of items asked respondents to say whether several makes and models of cars were expensive or not. The answers for the unfamiliar items depended on the items that were nearby on the list. Our last experiment varied whether a battery of related items was administered on a single screen, across two screens, or with each item on its own screen. The intercorrelations among the items were highest when they were all on the same screen. Respondents seem to apply interpretive heuristics in assigning meaning to visual cues in questionnaires. They see the visual midpoint of a scale as representing the typical or middle response; they expect options to be arrayed in a progression beginning with the leftmost or topmost item; and they expect items that are physically close to be related to each other conceptually.
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Web survey bibliography (4086)
- Do print and Web surveys provide the same results?; 2004; Huang, H.-M.
- Will Web Surveys Ever Become Part of Mainstream Research?; 2004; Schonlau, M.
- Online or Not Online? A Comparison of Offline and Online Surveys Conducted in the Context of 2002 German...; 2004; Faas, T.
- Recruitment for online access panels; 2004; Goeritz, A.
- Does Voice Matter? An Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Experiment; 2004; Couper, M. P., Singer, E., Tourangeau, R.
- No calibration required. Expanding the use of on-line research for new initiatives; 2004; Rogers, G., Dierckx, J.-H.
- A Comparison of Objective Characteristics and User Perception of Web Sites; 2004; Lee, S.-J., Lee, W.-N., Kim, H., Stout, P. A.
- The Effect of Billboards within the Gaming Environment; 2004; Chaney, I. M., Lin, K.-H., Chaney, J.
- Pros and cons of paper and electronic surveys; 2004; Porter, S. R.
- The Influence of Incremental Increases in Token Cash Incentives on Mail Survey Response; 2004; Trussell, N., Lavrakas, P. J.
- The impact of material incentives on response quantity, response quality, sample composition, survey...; 2004; Goeritz, A.
- Spacing, Position, and Order: Interpretive Heuristics for Visual Features of Survey Questions; 2004; Tourangeau, R., Conrad, F. G., Couper, M. P.
- The Influence of Graphical and Symbolic Language Manipulations on Responses to Self-Administered Questions...; 2004; Christian, L. M., Dillman, D. A.
- Scientific LogAnalyzer: A Web-based tool for analyses of server log files in psychological research; 2004; Reips, U.-D., Stieger, S.
- Identifying and Reducing Response Burdens in Internet Business Surveys; 2004; Haraldsen, G.
- The Ethics of Conducting E-Mail Surveys; 2004; Krishnamurthy, S.
- Readings in Virtual Research Ethics: Issues and Controversies; 2004; Buchanan, E. A.
- Validity of Data and Representativeness of Sample in Internet Survey; 2004; Katz, B., Matsuo, Hi., McIntyre, K., Tomazic, T., Bosch, R.
- Digital Audio File Recording in CATI Instruments; 2004; White, E., Kraft, J., Taylor, W.
- Online Surveys-Does One Size Fit All; 2004; Coates, D.
- E-Mail Contacts: A Test of Complex Graphical Designs in Survey Research; 2004; Whitcomb, M. E., Porter, S. R.
- Impacts of the Use of E-Mail and the Internet on Personal Trip-Making Behavior; 2004; Tonn, B. E., Hemrick, A.
- How You Ask Counts: A Test of Internet-Related Components of Response Rates to a Web-Based Survey; 2004; Trouteaud, A. R.
- Changing from PAPI to CAPI: A Longitudinal Study Dealing with Mode-Effects in the German Socio-Economic...; 2004; Schraepler, J.-P., Schupp, J., Wagner, G. G
- Collecting Data on Ego-Centered Social Networks on the Web: Methodological Issues; 2004; Lozar Manfreda, K., Vehovar, V., Hlebec, V.
- 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.
- On the Variability of Estimates Based on Propensity-score-weighted Data from Web Panels; 2004; Forsman, G., Danielsson, S., Isaksson, A.
- The Online Survey: Its Contributions and Potential Problems; 2004; McIntyre, K., Tomazic, T., Katz, B., Matsuo, Hi.
- 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. P.
- Reading in Virutal Research Ethics; 2004; Anonymous
- Picture This! Exploring Visual Effects in Web Surveys; 2004; Couper, M. P., Tourangeau, R., Kenyon, K.
- 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.
- Survey Mode Preferences of Business Respondents; 2004; Tarnai, J., Paxon, M. C.
- Using progress indicators in web surveys; 2004; Heerwegh, D.
- Web Survey Design: Paging vs. Scrolling; 2004; Peytchev, A., Crawford, S. D., McCabe, S. E., Conrad, F. G., Couper, M. P.
- Web surveys: Best practices; 2004; Umbach, P. D.
- Telephone presurveys, self-selection, and non-response bias to mail and Internet surveys in economic...; 2004; Hudson, D., Seah, L. H., Hite, D., Haab, T.
- Doing Survey Research On The Internet: Yes, Timing Does Matter; 2004; Faught, K. S., Whitten, D., Green Jr., K. W.
- Methods for Testing and Evaluating Survey Questions; 2004; Presser, S., Couper, M. P., Lessler, J. T., Martin, E., Martin, J., Rothgeb, J. M., Singer, E.
- Cutting Market Research Costs with On-Site Surveys; 2004; Dysart, J.
- Psychological Testing on the Internet: New Problems, Old Issues; 2004; Naglieri, J. A., Drasgow, F., Schmit, M., Handler, L., Prifitera, A., Margolis, A., Velasquez, R.
- Web Surveys For the Enterprise; 2004; King, N.
- Using the Online Medium for Discursive Research About People With Disabilities; 2004; Bowker, N., Tuffin, K.
- Classifying and Coding Online Actions.; 2004; Hargittai, E.
- Paper and pencil or online? Methodological Experiences from an employee survey; 2004; Poetschke, M.
- Employee surveys via Internet or paper? The influence of administration mode, anonymity, voluntariness...; 2004; Reips, U.-D., Franek, L.
- Online Experiments in Commercial Market Research; 2004; Nordmeyer, C.-F., Geissler, H., Donath, T.
- Salutation, Power and behaviour in on-line panels; 2004; Joinson, A. N., Reips, U.-D.