Web Survey Bibliography
Respondent-generated intervals (“RGI”), a question item protocol promoted by statisticians Press and Tanur, promises to have a positive impact on survey data quality, both by reducing item nonresponse and by improving the accuracy of estimation.
In this experiment, we put this method (RGI) to test with a sample of electronics engineers each reporting on a unique integrated circuit (chip) design developed in 2002.
The treatment version of the questionnaire (a self-administered web survey) encourages respondents to provide a self-generated interval if they are unsure of the number for the physical quantity requested (e.g., number of transistors on the chip, number of bytes of embedded memory, etc.). Respondents in the control group receive no such encouragement and are just asked to provide the relevant number.
1) This experiment seeks to answer a question: Does the suggestion to provide an RGI reduce item nonresponse?
2) The second objective of this experiment is to contribute to the discussion of whether RGIs can provide more accurate estimates than are obtained by merely asking respondents for one number. Research has shown that when asked for a number whose exact value is unknown, people resort to an “anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic” which often results in biased values. The bias is due to the original anchor value, which acts as a tether preventing sufficient adjustment. Because RGIs promote the reporting of at least two values, this very process might well break the “pull” which the original anchor value has on a respondent’s ability to provide an unbiased estimate.
The purpose of this research is to elicit questions dealing with ways to help respondents reporting factual data to provide unbiased estimates of target quantities. The biases we are talking about here are cognitive in nature and not emotional (e.g., social desirability).
Homepage - conference (abstract)
Web survey bibliography - The American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) 58th Annual Conference, 2003 (20)
- Determining the Probability of Selection for a Telephone Household in a Random Digit Dial Sample Design...; 2003; Triplett, T. A., Abi-Habib, N.
- Validations in Web-based Surveys; 2003; Crawford, S. D., Peytchev, A.
- Use and non-use of clarification features in web surveys; 2003; Tourangeau, R., P., Couper, M. P., Conrad, F. G., Baker, R. P.
- Asking Comparative Questions: A Comparison Of Three Wording Strategies; 2003; Liu, K.
- It's Only Incidental: Effects of Response Format in Determining Behavioral or Event Occurrence; 2003; Lafond, C. R., Smith, M. R., Behnke, C. S., Thomas, R. K.
- Achieving high response rates on web-based surveys of post-secondary students; 2003; Nichols, L. B., Ghadialy, R.
- Design implementation of a Multimode Web Survey; 2003; Wine, S. J., Cominole, M. B., Carwile, D. S., Perry, K.
- Partnering with a Newspaper to Assess Community Opinion Online; 2003; Downs, E. P., Lindley, A. M.
- Implementing a Web Survey Administration System at the GAO; 2003; Feldesman, A. G.
- Using Internet-Based Surveys With Physicians, What Works and What Doesn't Work; 2003; Schneiderman, M., Thran, S., Adams, C., Lerner, B.
- Exploring Online Survey Metodologies: Who are the Respondents and How to Get them to respond; 2003; Wolter-Warmerdam, K., Gardinali, A. P., Wong, R.
- Using RGI (Respondent Generated Interval) to gather factual information in a web survey; 2003; Lusinchi, D.
- Can What We Don’t Know (about “Don’t Know”) Hurt Us?: Effects of Item Non-response...; 2003; Krosnick, J. A., Behnke, C. S., Lafond, C. R., Thomas, R. K.
- What They See Is What We Get: Response Options for Web Surveys; 2003; Couper, M. P., Tourangeau, R., Conrad, F. G., Crawford, S. D.
- Web Survey Design: Comparing Static and Interactive Survey Instruments; 2003; Nyiri, Z., Clark, L. R.
- Comparing Web-Based Survey Methods with other Approaches: An examination of health knowledge, opinion...; 2003; Greiling, K. A., McCarrier, P. K., Stringer, M. C.
- The role of issue involvement in UK public attitudes to the single European currency; 2003; Roberts, E. C.
- Partipation in Online Surveys: Results from a Series of Experiments; 2003; Kiniorski, A. K., R.Smith, M. R.
- Does Order Really Make a Difference? The Impact of Respondent and Question Characteristics on Response...; 2003; O'Neill, G.
- Cognitive processes in Web Surveys; 2002; Fuchs, M.