Survey Conducting Showdown: Face-to-Face vs. Online

Tuesday, April 7, 2009 by Sean Conry
With the quality of web surveys coming under more scrutiny lately, researchers are wondering just how bad the problem is (or isn't), and if there is a problem inherent with doing web surveys, how to address that with their clients and stakeholders.

I was shocked to see this study, which compares survey questionnaires adminstered face-to-face vs. online. I was really pleased to see that the text and pdf versions are both available for free. 
 
Web survey respondents were shown to produce a higher "don't know" response rate, to differentiate less on rating scales, and to produce more item nonresponse than face-to-face survey respondents.

Here is another article on a seperate study, where the response rate before a reminder was 17.9% for the Internet group compared to 73.2% for the paper-and-pencil group.

Wow. What are the implications for your market research data?



Comments for Survey Conducting Showdown: Face-to-Face vs. Online

Tuesday, April 7, 2009 by Shaili - Independent Qualitative Research in Chica:
Thanks for the links, Sean. I think these outcomes depend on the person administering the study. I have conducted online research for years, and I have had excellent success. I teach other researchers what I am doing. I feel that it takes nearly double the work to set up an online study, even if it's "just" a quant survey, than F2F interviews. The timeliness of the follow-up as well as our rapport with the consumers is critical online! Online research is not for the faint-of-heart, but the tricks to do it right can and should be learned. The in-depth findings from proper online research are more than worthwhile. Nice blog! I've expanded my toolbox with mobile market research over the past year, and I'm curious to see what you'll share. - Shaili

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