Web Survey Bibliography
Survey respondents sometimes interpret the words in survey questions differently than intended by question authors and this can lead to inaccurate answers. One way to clarify the intended meaning is to make definitions available. In Web surveys, it is possible to link words and their definitions so that respondents can click for clarification if they realize they might benefit from doing so and are willing to perform the necessary steps. In this paper we report an experiment in which we varied the familiarity of question terms (e.g. antioxidant vs. beer), the informativeness of the definitions (e.g. vegetables includes French fries vs. beef includes meat from cows) and the number of clicks required to obtain definitions (one, two or more). The experiment was embedded in a survey administered to a sample obtained from Survey Sampling Inc., yielding over 2,500 respondents, randomly assigned to the different conditions. Respondents were asked four questions about their consumption of food and nutrition. Overall, respondents were unlikely to obtain definitions (only about one sixth of respondents obtained one or more definitions) suggesting that many misconceptions go uncorrected. When respondents obtained at least one definition, they did so far more often for unfamiliar than familiar terms, indicating that they rarely recognize mismatched interpretations of words that they believe they know. On those occasions when definitions were obtained for familiar terms, they were more often informative than uninformative suggesting that respondents recognized the mismatch; the pattern was reversed for unfamiliar terms. Finally definitions were more likely to be obtained the fewer the number of required clicks reflecting respondents? willingness to expend truly minimum effort to clarify meaning. We discuss the results in terms of designing interactive Web survey features that are likely to be used, thus reducing measurement error.
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2003
Conferences, workshops, tutorials, presentations
Web survey bibliography - Couper, M. P. (93)
- Reducing speeding in web surveys by providing immediate feedback; 2017; Conrad, F.; Tourangeau, R.; Couper, M. P.; Zhang, C.
- Effects of Mobile versus PC Web on Survey Response Quality: a Crossover Experiment in a Probability...; 2017; Antoun, C.; Couper, M. P.; G. G.Conrad, F. G.
- Helping respondents provide good answers in Web surveys; 2016; Couper, M. P.; Zhang, C.
- Device use in web surveys: The effect of differential incentives; 2016; Mavletova, A. M.; Couper, M. P.
- Why Do Web Surveys Take Longer on Smartphones?; 2016; Couper, M. P.; J. J.Peterson, G. J.
- Assessment of Innovations in Data Collection Technology for Understanding Society; 2016; Couper, M. P.
- Options for Fielding and Analyzing Web Surveys; 2016; Schonlau, M.; Couper, M. P.
- Internet and Smartphone Coverage in a National Health Survey: Implications for Alternative Modes; 2015; Couper, M. P.; Kelley, J.; Axinn, W.; Guyer, H.; Wagner, J.; West, B. T.
- A Meta-Analysis of Breakoff Rates in Mobile Web Surveys; 2015; Mavletova, A. M.; Couper, M. P.
- Comparing a Cell Phone Survey and a Web Survey of University Students ; 2015; Couper, M. P.; Kim, S.; Woo, Y.
- The Effect of Mobile Web Survey Design on Screen Orientation Manipulation; 2014; Young, R.H.; Crawford, S. D.; Couper, M. P.; Nelson, T. F.
- Nonprobability Web Surveys to Measure Sexual Behaviors and Attitudes in the General Population: A Comparison...; 2014; Erens, B.; Burkill, S.; Couper, M. P.; C., Clifton, S., Tanton, C., Phelps, A., Datta, J., Mercer,...
- The Effectiveness of Mailed Invitations for Web Surveys and the Representativeness of Mixed-Mode versus...; 2014; Bandilla, W., Couper, M. P., Kaczmirek, L.
- The Grouping of Items in Mobile Web Surveys; 2014; Mavletova, A. M., Couper, M. P.
- Social Media and Surveys: Collaboration, Not Competition; 2014; Couper, M. P.
- Mobile-Mostly Internet Users and Noncoverage in Traditional Web Surveys ; 2013; Antoun, C.; Couper, M. P.
- How well do volunteer web panel surveys measure sensitive behaviours in the general population, and...; 2013; Erens, B., Burkill, S., Copas, A., Couper, M. P., Conrad, F.
- Research Note: Reducing the Threat of Sensitive Questions in Online Surveys?; 2013; Couper, M. P.
- Is the Sky Falling? New Technology, Changing Media, and the Future of Surveys; 2013; Couper, M. P.
- The Effectiveness of Mailed Invitations for Web Surveys; 2013; Bandilla, W., Couper, M. P., Kaczmirek, L.
- Sensitive Topics in PC and Mobile Web Surveys; 2013; Mavletova, A. M., Couper, M. P.
- Surveys on Mobile Devices: Opportunities and Challenges; 2013; Couper, M. P.
- Informed Consent for Web Paradata Use; 2013; Couper, M. P., Singer, E.
- Sample composition discrepancies in different stages of a probability-based online panel; 2013; Bosnjak, M., Haas, I., Galesic, M., Kaczmirek, L., Bandilla, W., Couper, M. P.
- Sensitive topics in PC Web and mobile web surveys: Is there a difference? (presentation); 2012; Mavletova, A. M., Couper, M. P.
- Using paradata to explore item-level response times in surveys; 2012; Couper, M. P., Kreuter, F.
- Data Quality in HIV/AIDS Web-Based Surveys: Handling Invalid and Suspicious Data; 2012; Bauermeister, J. A., Pingel, E., Zimmerman, M., Couper, M. P., Carballo-Diéguez, A., Strecher, V. J.
- Database Lookup in Web Surveys; 2012; Couper, M. P., Zhang, C., Conrad, F. G., Tourangeau, R.
- Using Text-to-Speech (TTS) for Audio-CASI; 2012; Couper, M. P., Kirgis, N., Buageila, S., Berglund, P.
- Reducing the Threat of Sensitive Questions in Online Surveys; 2012; Couper, M. P.
- Web Survey Methodology: Interface Design, Sampling and Statistical Inference; 2011; Couper, M. P.
- The Future of Modes of Data Collection; 2011; Couper, M. P.
- The Uses of Open-Ended Questions in Quantitative Surveys; 2011; Singer, E., Couper, M. P.
- Effects of Response Formats when Measuring Attitudes in Consumer Web Surveys Across Markets.; 2011; Couper, M. P., Nunge, E.
- Should I Stay or Should I go: The Effects of Progress Feedback, Promised Task Duration, and Length of...; 2011; Yan, T., Conrad, F. G., Tourangeau, R., Couper, M. P.
- Can Verbal Instructions Counteract Visual Context Effects in Web Surveys?; 2011; Toepoel, V., Couper, M. P.
- The use of paradata to monitor and manage survey data collection; 2010; Kreuter, F., Couper, M. P., Lyberg, L. E.
- Research synthesis. AAPOR report on online panels; 2010; Brick, J. M., Baker, R., Blumberg, S. J., Couper, M. P., Courtright, M., Dennis, J. M., Dillman, D....
- Communicating Disclosure Risk in Informed Consent Statements; 2010; Singer, E., Couper, M. P.
- Professional Web Respondents and Data Quality; 2010; Conrad, F. G., Tourangeau, R., Couper, M. P., Zhang, C.
- Increasing Respondents' Use of Definitions in Web Surveys; 2010; Peytchev, A., Conrad, F. G., Couper, M. P., Tourangeau, R.
- Internet surveys; 2010; Couper, M. P., Bosnjak, M.
- Visual design in online surveys: Lessons for the mobile world; 2010; Couper, M. P.
- Interactive Interventions in Web Surveys Can Increase Respondent Conscientiousness; 2009; Conrad, F. G., Tourangeau, R., Couper, M. P., Kennedy, C.
- Using Debit Cards for Incentive Payments: Experiences of a Weekly Survey Study; 2009; Gatny, H. H., Couper, M. P., Axinn, W., Barber, J. S.
- Ethical Considerations in the Use of Paradata in Web Surveys; 2009; Couper, M. P., Singer, E.
- Interactive feedback can improve accuracy of responses in web surveys; 2009; Conrad, F. G., Couper, M. P., Tourangeau, R., Galesic, M.
- Pictures in Web Surveys; 2009; Toepoel, V., Couper, M. P.
- Response Order and Response Distributions: The Format of the Response Options in a Web Survey; 2009; Tourangeau, R., Conrad, F. G., Couper, M. P., Balter, O.
- Improving the Design of Complex Matrix Questions; 2009; Couper, M. P., Tourangeau, R., Conrad, F. G.