Web Survey Methods: Introduction

Abstract

A key characteristic of Web surveys is their diversity. Unlike other modes of data collection, where the method tells us something about both the sampling process and the method of data collection, the term “Web survey” is too broad to give us much useful information about how the study was carried out. For example, referring to an RDD telephone survey describes both the method of sampling (in part) and the mode of data collection. But there are so many different ways to identify sampling frames for Web surveys, to invite people to complete such surveys, and to administer surveys over the Internet (see Couper 2000) that the term “Web survey” conveys little evaluative information. The implications of this diversity are twofold. First, broad generalizations or claims about Web surveys relative to other methods of data collection are ill-advised. Second, much more detail about the process is needed in order for the reader to make judgments about the quality of the process itself or about the resulting data. The papers in this special issue reflect some of the many ways that the Internet can be used—whether alone or in combination with other methods—to conduct surveys. Despite their relatively short history, Web surveys have already had a profound effect on survey research. The first graphic browser (NCSA Mosaic) was released in 1992, with Netscape Navigator following in 1994 and Internet Explorer in 1995. The first published papers on Web surveys appeared in 1996. Since then, there has been a virtual explosion of interest in the Internet generally, and World Wide Web specifically, as a tool for survey data collection (see www.WebSM.org for a detailed bibliography). This is not to say that the early claims that Web surveys will make all other methods of data collection obsolete have come to pass. But it is fair to say that the methodological attention that Web surveys have received has exceeded other modes in a similar time period. In part, this is because the relative cost of Web surveys makes them a more accessible method of data collection than telephone or face-to-face surveys. In addition, the computerized nature of Web surveys facilitates conducting experiments and speeds the process of collecting data, leading—for better or worse—to more research papers in a shorter time frame. The survey enterprise is becoming more “democratized” on the Web. Individuals with little or no financial support and training now routinely seek survey cooperation from other Web users. This trend is in line with the more general capability and culture of Web communication—users of the medium are frequently content producers rather than just passive recipients of information. Prominent Web facilities are structured to encourage interaction. Blogs and social networking sites depend on Web users’ interest in sharing and soliciting information from (even) a world-wide set of partners. Survey capability is a common feature of software designed for Web communication. Because of the Web's egalitarian ethos and the relative ease with which Web surveys can be conducted, control over the content and method of these efforts is now shared by survey experts and lay enthusiasts. Just as Internet sites challenge traditional news and scholarly publication outlets, variegated amateur Web surveys now help to constitute the contemporary information environment along with more established data sources. In some respects, this development is salutary. Survey research has long been enabled and constrained by its sponsorship: the topics and methods investigated have been shaped by the interests of funding sources. To the degree that survey facilities are inexpensive and widely available, the research agenda can expand to include important topics that do not attract support from the usual sources. Even for the established sponsors of surveys, particularly in the commercial sector, the Web offers the potential of fast and cheap investigation of issues that would have been deemed too costly in other survey modes. But, despite the popularity of Web surveys, and their obvious value for a wide range of research endeavors, there remain fundamental concerns with the method. The key challenges are errors of nonobservation (see Groves 1989) or issues of representation, especially with regard to more general populations of interest. While we have seen dramatic growth in Internet access and use in both the developed and developing world, the proportion of those with Internet access appears to have reached a plateau in the USA in recent years. Further, regardless of the actual level of penetration, substantial proportions of the population remain without access to the Internet, and the differences between those with and without access show no signs of diminishing. In addition, the nature of Internet use is fundamentally different from that of, say, the telephone (although we are seeing changes in the latter with the introduction of cell phones and Internet-based te