Eunjung Shin

Survey Mode Effects on Data Quality: Comparison of Web and Mail Modes in a U.S. National Panel Survey

Web surveys are being increasingly incorporated into national survey data collection programs in the United States because of their cost/time-efficiencies. Yet, response rates and data quality issues in web surveys remain important challenges. As a basic study designed to better understand data quality in a mixed mode national survey, this article investigates the degree to which web versus mail survey modes affect unit and item responses. Findings indicate that the web survey mode produces a lower unit response rate compared to the mail mode. However, the web mode elicits higher data quality in terms of item responses to both closed- and open-ended questions. These mode effects on data quality remain after sociodemographic variables are held constant. Given the increasing integration of web survey questionnaires into mixed mode studies, additional research is necessary to understand and document the processes that underlie mode differences when responding to self-administered surveys.

Self-rated health assessed by web versus mail modes in a mixed mode survey: the digital divide effect and the genuine survey mode effect.

Objective:To investigate differences in self-rated health (SRH) between web and mail questionnaires in a mixed mode survey and to provide a model that explains those differences. Subjects:A total of 15,200 mail respondents and 17,829 web respondents from the 2008 US National Health Survey conducted by the Gallup Panel. Research Design:Respondents were recruited using random digit dialing and assigned to one of the two survey modes (web or mail). Respondents with household Internet connection and frequent Internet usage were invited to complete the survey through the web mode. Respondents who had no Internet connection or who used the Internet infrequently were invited to the mail mode. Thus, respondents with better Internet access used the web mode. Measures:Respondents completed a questionnaire that asked about SRH status, objective health conditions, health behaviors, and other socioeconomic variables. Statistical associations were analyzed with ordered Logit and negative binomial models. Results:Web respondents reported better SRH than mail respondents. This difference is in part reflective of variability in objective health status between these two groups, and in part attributable to the effects of survey mode. These results maintained with age controlled. Conclusions:The alignment between survey mode selection, Internet access, and health disparities, as well as genuine survey mode characteristics, leads to web–mail differences in SRH. Unless the digital divide and its influences on survey mode selection are resolved and differential genuine mode effects are fully comprehended, we recommend that both modes be simultaneously used on a complementary basis.

Open and inclusive collaboration in science

Digitalisation is fundamentally changing science and the paper lays out some of the opportunities, risks and major policy challenges associated with these changes. More specifically, the paper lays out a conceptual framework for open science. This framework incorporates access to data and information, as well as civil society engagement, in the different stages of the scientific research process. It is not meant to be prescriptive but should help different communities to decide on their own priorities within the open science space and to better visualise how these priorities link to different stage of the scientific process and to different actors. Such a framework can be useful also in considering how best to incentivise and measure different aspects of open science.