Doing Surveys Online

Vera Toepoel

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781446249673, 9781446249666
• eBook ISBN: 9781473947672
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Social Science Research & Methodology
• Index: Social Sciences

Vera Toepoel's practical, how-to guide to doing surveys online takes you through the entire process of using surveys, from systematically recruiting respondents, to designing the internet survey, to processing the survey data and writing it up.

This book helps students and researchers in identifying possible strategies to make the best use of online surveys, providing pro's and con's, and do's and don'ts for each strategy. It also explores the latest opportunities and developments that have arisen in the field of online surveys, including using social networks, and provides expert guidance and examples of best practice throughout.

Suitable for those starting a research project or conducting a survey in a professional capacity, this book is the ideal go-to reference for anyone using internet surveys, be it a beginner or a more experienced survey researcher.

1 Introduction to Online Surveys

• 1.1 Introduction 1
• 1.2 Online surveys for quantitative and qualitative research 2
  • 1.2.1 Quantitative online research 2
  • 1.2.2 Qualitative online research 3
• 1.3 Different types of Web surveys 4
  • 1.3.1 Non-probability Web surveys 4
    • 1.3.1.1 Polls as entertainment 4
    • 1.3.1.2 Unrestricted self-selected surveys 4
    • 1.3.1.3 Volunteer opt-in panels 5
  • 1.3.2 Probability-based Web surveys 5
    • 1.3.2.1 Intercept surveys 5
    • 1.3.2.2 List based samples 6
    • 1.3.2.3 Web option in mixed-mode surveys 6
    • 1.3.2.4 Pre-recruited panels of Internet users 6
• 1.4 Total survey error 7
  • 1.4.1 Measurement error 8
  • 1.4.2 Non-response error 9
  • 1.4.3 Coverage error 9
  • 1.4.4 Sampling error 10
• 1.5 Dimension differences between modes 10
  • 1.5.1 Degree of interviewer involvement 11
  • 1.5.2 Degree of interaction with the respondent 11
  • 1.5.3 Degree of privacy 11
  • 1.5.4 Channels of communication 12
  • 1.5.5 The use of technology 12
• 1.6 Internet penetration over time and place 12
• 1.7 Web surveys on mobile devices 15
  • Summary 16

1.1 Introduction

In the past 50 years technological developments have had a great impact on society as a whole. This influence is reflected in the way present day survey research is conducted. Advancements in technology have created a more individualized society and affected communication and accessibility between individuals. With the rise of the Internet, we have witnessed a shift to online surveying being the dominant mode of survey data collection.

The base for online surveys lies in the 1980s. It was then that the groundwork was made to allow email to be used as a new manner to collect survey data (Bethlehem and Biffignandi, 2012). This was one of the first steps in the creation of the nowadays commonly used online survey. Online surveys rapidly started to challenge the dominance of other modes of data collection, such as telephone, face-to-face and paper-and-pencil surveys, because of the advantages they offered in terms of cost and speed. Costs for hiring and training interviewers, recording equipment, travel or paper and postage could be eliminated. Furthermore, Web surveys allowed researchers to collect data while working on other tasks and reach large numbers of people in a short time, even though there might be a great geographical distance (Wright, 2005). The suitability of Web surveys as a mode of administration depends on the Internet penetration rate of the population: in other words who can (or more importantly, who cannot) be reached when using the Web as a mode of communication. For most countries, however, the Web has become the major mode of data collection.

This chapter will introduce you to Web survey research; it will illustrate the place of the Web survey in the world of survey research, and exemplify the challenges online surveys (still) face and the possibilities they offer.

1.2 Online surveys for quantitative and qualitative research

Online surveys can serve both qualitative and quantitative research questions, although they are more commonly used for quantitative research. At the start of their project, researchers should ask themselves what kind of question they wish to answer with their study. Different types of questions mean different kinds of data requirements. The first decision a researcher has to make is to choose whether to collect quantitative or qualitative data. Quantitative research is used to quantify a research problem by way of generating numerical data that can be used for statistical testing. Qualitative research is primarily used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions or motivations. It follows a less structured path compared to quantitative research and is often used for exploratory research. Qualitative and quantitative research are often combined in mixed-method research, to combine the best of both worlds.

1.2.1 Quantitative online research

First of all, the wide geographical reach of Web surveys offers the possibility to quickly and easily create a great sample of people. Quantitative Web surveys can be used if one wishes to answer a question about great groups of people and/or generalize its results, for example, make inferences out of the sample to a general population. Because of the low costs and short time needed, Web surveys can be a great method to perform large-scale research. Quantitative research focuses more on the ability to perform statistical analyses (Eysenbach and Wyatt, 2002). In quantitative Web surveys, most questions are close-ended. This means that the respondent is restricted to a range of answering options and has to choose one. Close-ended questions are also called quantitative questions because the use of response options allows the researcher to convert the answers into numbers, thereby facilitating the statistical analyses (Epstein, 2013).

1.2.2 Qualitative online research

Not only does the Web survey enable researchers to reach a multiplicity of potential respondents, it also makes it possible to approach or analyse groups of people one would not easily find outside of the Internet. These groups are called Internet communities. Internet communities offer people a way to communicate with peers. They include chat rooms, newsgroups, mailing lists or discussion boards on websites (Eysenbach and Till, 2001). They can even be found in online games. Internet communities can serve as rich sources of qualitative data for researchers (Eysenbach and Till, 2001).

As opposed to quantitative studies, qualitative studies do not require representative samples. Researchers conducting qualitative research are not interested in the average score of a population. They want to obtain a profound understanding of particular groups or individuals and therefore have to deliberately look for specific groups or individuals (Eysenbach and Wyatt, 2002). A distinction can be made between three different research methodologies for qualitative research on the Internet:

1. Passive analysis. In this type of online research, researchers analyse interactions and information on the Internet, for example, interactions in chat rooms, without actively communicating with the people from the Internet communities themselves.
2. Active analysis. Just like in passive analysis, in this type of research the researcher observes the participants. The difference is that the researcher here gets actively involved in the interactions, often without revealing his or her identity as a researcher. Actively interacting with the participants does allow researchers to ask questions to which they want an answer.
3. Web surveys. Web surveys are the only type of the three qualitative online research methodologies in which the researcher informs the participants of his or her identity, making it more ethical than the other two types (Eysenbach and Wyatt, 2002).

Qualitative Web surveys answer ‘how’ or ‘why’ questions. Questions in this type of survey are often open-ended, thereby offering the respondents the possibility to answer freely in any manner they choose. Response options are not specified and responses are measured and judged by feel rather than by statistics and mathematics. This brings the advantage that, in case the researcher had no idea what the answer possibilities could be, respondents have a free rein to answer, making qualitative surveys fit for explorative research. Although Web surveys can be used for qualitative research, the majority of Web surveys have a quantitative nature. Web surveys can be divided into a range of different approaches, varying in goals and inference possibilities.

1.3 Different types of Web surveys

By now Web surveys have diffused into a variety of types that differ in aspects such as manner of recru...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Publisher Note
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Detailed Contents
• Table List
• Illustration List
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Introduction to Online Surveys
• 2 Developing the Survey: Questions and Answers
• 3 Ethical Considerations
• 4 Sampling
• 5 Using a Panel in Your Research
• 6 Comparative Survey Research
• 7 Incentives for Respondents
• 8 Selecting Survey Software
• 9 Programming the Survey
• 10 Fieldwork
• 11 Processing and Cleaning the Data
• 12 Weighting Survey Data
• 13 Reporting Survey Results
• 14 Making Data Available to Others
• 15 The Future of Web Surveys
• Index