The growth of the Internet has impacted on virtually every aspect of society. Survey research is no exception. Two years ago in an informal search of Yahoo, Kay and Johnson (1999) identified over 2,000 Web-based surveys(1) in 59 areas. The interest in Web-based surveying is not surprising as it offers a number of distinct advantages over more traditional mail and phone techniques. Examples include reducing the time and cost of conducting a survey and avoiding the often error prone and tedious task of data entry (Medin, Roy & Ann, 1999).
Email offers one option for distributing Internet surveys. Up until a few years ago email surveys were the predominate means of Internet surveying. As the World Wide Web (WWW) has grown in popularity, the use of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) forms or Web-based surveys are becoming the dominant method of gathering survey data. These forms streamline the data collection process formatting and entering responses directly into a database for analysis. Since HTML forms can be made programmable, it is also possible to have real time error checking and correction increasing the accuracy of the data collection process. The formatting capabilities of HTML allow the creation of easy-to-read and a attractive forms that may improve response rates. In addition, the programmability of HTML forms makes it possible to randomly order responses and tailor options based on information the respondent supplies earlier in the survey.
Combining an email "cover letter" as a means of contacting sampled people with the use of an HTML form for data collection provides an especially effective and efficient approach to Internet surveying. Modern email packages automatically convert universal resource locators (URLs) or web-addresses in the text of an email into a hyperlinks. Placing the URL of the survey form in a cover letter email allows the respondent to "click" their mouse on the URL to display the survey form and subsequently fill it out.
There are specific populations where Internet access is extremely high and coverage bias is likely to be less of a concern. College students and university faculty within the USA, Canada and Western Europe are examples of such populations. Even though coverage bias may be less of an issue in these groups, experience and comfort with Internet-based tools such as Web browsers is another serious potential source of bias both in response rates and the way people respond to the survey (Dillman, Tortora & Bowker, 2001).
Web-based surveying is still in the early stages of development. The WWW is a unique media and it is not clear to what extent the knowledge we have gained over years of experience with more traditional surveying techniques fully applies to Internet surveying (Dilman, Tortora & Bowker, 2001). Studies are just beginning to done to learn the optimal ways to structure and format Internet surveys to limit biases and increase response rates. It is also likely that the best way to design an Internet survey depends in part on the familiarity and comfort of the respondents in using Web browsers and email clients. It is also quite likely that the type of Internet connection as well as the hardware and software used in accessing the Internet will impact on response rates and possibly how a person responds to an Internet-based survey.
The use of HTML forms for surveying poses a unique set of issues and challenges that need to be addressed to ensure valid data. The Web is a very public place and unless steps are taken to limit access to a survey, it may be found and responded to by people who are not among those sampled by the researcher. This can either happen by accident or maliciously. Since one only has to "click" their mouse pointer on the "submit" button to respond to a Web-based survey instrument once it is filled out, it is also quite possible for respondents to either mistakenly or purposefully submit multiple copies of their responses.
While Internet-based surveying techniques need to be used with caution, their benefits warrant continued exploration and the cautious use. It is also pretty clear that coverage bias and familiarity with Internet tools will be less and less of an issue over time. Additionally our knowledge about how best to conduct Internet surveys will continue to improve with research and experience.
The author has developed a set of software tools that provides many of the complex Web survey administration functions included in Web surveying packages(3). The software, Web Survey Mailer System (WSMS), is an integrated survey administration system that will send out personalized email cover letters, track which of the sampled people have completed the survey while keeping their responses anonymous and send out subsequent reminder emails to only those sampled people who have not responded to the survey. WSMS will block people who have not been sampled from accessing and responding to the survey and will keep respondents from submitting more than one set of survey responses. The system includes a customizable CGI script to capture the survey responses and place them in a tab-delimited ASCII database format that can easily be downloaded from the server and imported into a standard PC data base or statistical package. WSMS is written in PHP and uses the MySQL relational database to store information on the sampled people. Both PHP and MySQL are stable and powerful "open source" packages widely available on university and commercial Web servers and can be obtained free of charge in a variety of versions that will run on most common server operating systems. The WSMS scripts and documentation are available free-of-charge and can be downloaded from http://www.med-ed-online.org/rsoftware.htm#wsms
2.Cook, Heath, & Thompson (2000) included studies of both Web- and email-based surveys.
3.Detailed documentation for the Web Survey Mailer System is provided. However, installing and using these tools requires a good working knowledge of HTML and some background and understanding of server-based programming.
4.This Digest is based on an article first appearing in Practical Assessment Research and Evaluation
Cook, C, Heath, F, & Thompson, R. (2000) A meta-analysis of response rates in web or Internet-based surveys. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 60, 821-836.
Couper, M.P., Blair, J. & Triplett T (1999) A comparison of mail and e-mail for a survey of employees in federal statistical agencies. Journal of Official Statistics, 15, 39-56.
Crawford, S.D., Couper, M.P.& Lamias, M.J.. (2001) Web Surveys: Perception of burden. Social Science Computer Review, 19,146-162.
Dillman, D.A., Tortora, R.D. & Bowker, D. Principles for constructing web surveys. Working paper available from http://survey.sesrc.wsu.edu/dillman/papers.htm [Accessed 6/01]
Dillman, D.A, Tortora, R.D, Conrad, J. & Bowker D. Influence of plan vs. fancy design on response rates of Web surveys. Working paper available from http://survey.sesrc.wsu.edu/dillman/papers.htm [Accessed 6/01]
Jeavons A. Ethology and the Web: Observing respondent behavior in Web surveys. Proceedings of the Worldwide Internet Conference, Amsterdam: ESOMAR, 1998, available from http://w3.one.net/~andrewje/ethology.html [Accessed 7/01]
Kaye B.K. & Johnson T.J. (1999) .Research Methodology: Taming the Cyber Frontier. Social Science Computer Review, 17, 323-337.
Kittleson, M. (1997) Determining effective follow-up of e-mail surveys. American Journal of Health Behavior. 21, 193-196.
Medin, C., Roy, S. & Ann, T. (1999) World Wide Web versus mail surveys: A comparison and report.. Paper presentation at ANZMAC99 Conference, Marketing in the Third Millennium, Sydney, Australia, available from http://www.anzmac99.unsw.edu.au/anzmacfiles/papers.htm [Accessed 6/01]
Selwyn, N., Robson, K. (1998) Using e-mail as a research tool, Social Research Update, available from http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/sru/SRU21.html [Accessed 6/01]
-----
This publication was prepared with funding from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, under contract ED99CO0032. The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions of policies of OERI or the U.S. Department of Education. Permission is granted to copy and distribute this ERIC/AE Digest.
###