Web-based Surveys: An Annotated List of Resources

Web Resources Books  Journal Articles   Bibliographies PowerPoint  General Surveys
 

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Web Resources
      Batagelj and Vehovar describe the technical and methodological  aspects of Web surveys.  The data in the article is taken from a national WWW survey in Slovenia.
  • Bradley, N.  (1999). Sampling for Internet Surveys. An examination of respondent selection for Internet research. University of Westminster. Retrieved March 20, 2002, from http://users.wmin.ac.uk/~bradlen/papers/sam06.html

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      Bradley, a marketing professor in the Harrow Business School, University of Westminster, London,  discusses methods of probability and non-probability sample selection with various types of Internet surveys and Internet users types. 
  • Bradley, N. (1999). Sampling from Internet discussion groups. University of Westminster. Retrieved March 20, 2002, from http://users.wmin.ac.uk/~bradlen/papers/sam05.html

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      Bradley writes about the use of the Internet for qualitative research through samples obtained from Internet discussion groups. His study was designed to explore the advantages and disadvantages of an e-mail questionnaire with these samples.
  • Comley, P. (2000).  Pop-up surveys. What works, what doesn't work and what will work in the future.  The Worldwide Internet Conference Net Effects 3, Dublin, Ireland,  ESOMAR Publication Series - Volume 237.  Retrieved March 20, 2002, from http://www.virtualsurveys.com/papers/popup_paper.htm 

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      This paper discusses the history, benefits, and problems of pop-up surveys. Particular attention is paid to response rate.
  • Dillman, D.  (2001).  Don Dillman. Social and economic sciences Research Center, Washington State University. Retrieved March 20, 2002, from http://survey.sesrc.wsu.edu/dillman/
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      Many of Dillman's research papers that he authored or coauthored are available on this site, <http://survey.sesrc.wsu.edu/dillman/papers.htm>. The site is equipped with a search engine to find specific resources.
       
  • Eaton, B. (1997). Internet surveys: Does WWW stand for why waste the word. Retrieved March 20, 2002, from http://www.quirks.com/articles/article.asp?arg_ArticleId=244.
      Eaton looks at Internet surveys from the three golden rules of research: (1) Don't ask men for the opinions of women. (2) Look for your sample; don't let your sample rule you. and (3) You can only vote once.
       
  • Goldby, T. J.,  Savitskie, K.,  Stank,T.P., & Vickery, S.K. (2001, March). Web-based surveys: reaching potential respondents on-line. Decision Line. Retrieved March 20, 2002, from http://www.decisionsciences.org/Newsletter/Vol32/32_2/32_2res.pdf. 
      These three professors and a third year Ph.D. candidate describe the positives and negatives of Web surveys, and  their experience  with a Web survey of service performance. They offer advice for improvement of design of future Web surveys, including the placement of submit buttons that affects delivery of packets.
       
  • Ho, K. (1999). New technologies for survey research I.   Research and Statistical Support. University of North Texas. Retrieved March 22, 2002, from http://www.unt.edu/rss/class/survey1/
      Ho has provided the outline and material for a course in survey research which focuses on conducting and administering surveys. This course using FrontPage and SPSS or SAS for data analysis. The site includes examples of Web surveys and exercises.
  • Kehoe, C.M., & Pitkow, J.E. (1996). Surveying the territory: GVU's five WWW user surveys. The World WideWeb Journal 1 (3) 77-84.  Retrieved March 20, 2002 from http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/papers/w3j.html.

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      The authors discuss the results of  responses from over 55,000 Web users in five different  surveys . The paper discuss both the evolving Web survey methodology as well as the changing Web population at the time. 
       
  • The question bank: Social surveys online.  (2001). Department of Sociology, University of Surrey. Retrieved March 20, 2002, from http://qb.soc.surrey.ac.uk/docs/home47.htm

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      This British site contains surveys and survey questions, arranged by topic and year. The site has a map and a search engine, and is easy to navigate.  It is designed for social science researchers, analysts, and teachers and students of survey methods.
       
  • Web Surveyor. (1997 -2002). Websurveyor Corporation. Retrieved March 20, 2002, from http://www.websurveyor.com/home_intro.asp 
      This commercial company, which provides survey software and hosting, has produced several white papers about Web surveys, <http://www.websurveyor.com/learn_whitepapers.asp>. Although written for a general audience, they have useful information for survey professionals.  The site also has links to more academic papers, particularly those of Dillman <http://www.websurveyor.com/learn_articles.asp>.
Books
  • Jones, S. (ed.) 1999. Doing Internet research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. ( Available St. Mary's University SMU ZA4201 D65 1999)
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  • Ward, D. (1999). Getting the most out of Web-based surveys. American Library Association.  Library and Information Technology Association.

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      David Ward,  the author of the book is the Reference Services Coordinator for the Undergraduate Library at the University of Illinois. The book, based on techniques he has used in his work on academic and commercial Web sites, shows how to create robust Web surveys, focusing on the front end with HTML forms, and the back end with PERL scripts, security, and importing data. The appendices include HTML form code, PERL scripts, advice on comma delimited files, creating a database with FileMaker Pro, as well as examples of surveys. 
       
  • Ware, C. (2000) Information Visualization: Perception for Design.  Colin Ware.  San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann; 438 pp.; $59.95; (ISBN1-55860-511-8.)
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      The book explores the art and science of  why we see things the way we do. It has valuable information for the serious interface designer or presentation designer. See review by Terence Brooks, University of Washington.
Journal Articles
  • Cho, H., & LaRose, R. (1999). Privacy issues in Internet surveys. Social Science Computer Review. 17 421-434.
  • Crawford, S.D., Couper, M.P., & Lamias, M.J. (2001). Web Surveys: Perception of burden. Social Science Computer Review. 19  146-162.
  • DeRouvray, C., & Couper, M. (2002). Designing a strategy for reducing “no opinion” responses in web-based surveys. Social Science Computer Review. 20   3-9. 
  • Epstein, J., Klinkenberg, W. D., Wiley, D., & McKinley, L. (2001). Insuring sample equivalence across Internet and paper-and-pencil assessments. Computers in Human Behavior. 17  339-346. 
  • Fleitas, J. (1998). Spinning tales from the World Wide Web: Qualitative research in an electronic environment. Qualitative Health Research. 8, 283-292. 
  • Kaye B.K., & Johnson T.J. (1999). Research Methodology: Taming the Cyber Frontier. Social Science Computer Review.  17  323-337.
Bibliographies
      This is an extensive bibliography of current articles and papers from conferences about Web surveys.
       
  • Barak, A. (2002). Internet social research methodology. Retrieved March 20, 2002, from http://construct.haifa.ac.il/~azy/refmetho.htm.
      Barak, a professor of psychology at the University of Haifa, has put together an up-to-date (2002) and extensive bibliography of resources about Web surveys, particularly relevant to his area of research.
       
  • Research Methods Resources on the WWW: Questionnaires. (2002). Vancouver: UBC. School of Library, Archival, and Information Studies. Retrieved March 20, 2002, from http://www.slais.ubc.ca/resources/research_methods/question.htm
      Although not specifically addressing Web based surveys, this bibliography features a wealth of resources about questionnaires: question design, question tone, question order, open-ended questions, coding, and pretesting.  There are links to a number of PowerPoint presentations and book chapters as well.
       
  • WebSM. Web survey methodology. (2002). Research in Internet in Slovenia. Retrieved April 3, 2002, from http://www.websm.org/literabc.html.
      The purpose of the site is to link information relevant toWeb survey methodology. The idea was for the site grew out of  a session on Web surveys at the annual American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR)  in 1998. The site has links to key researchers in Web based surveys and their works. The site has alphabetical, chronological, and subject indexing, as well as links to past and upcoming conferences where Web surveys are the conference focus, and online discussion groups where Web surveys are being discussed.
PowerPoint Presentations
  • Graf, I. (2000). Web Based Surveys An Overview. Survey Research Laboratory. University of Illinois at Chicago.  Retrieved March 20, 2002, from http://www.srl.uic.edu/seminars/WEB/sld001.htm.

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      This twenty-six slide presentation examines a number of issues surrounding Web surveys: probability sampling, formatting, fielding the questionnaire, and outsourcing.
General Survey Articles That Are Worth A Visit
  • Gendall, P. (1998). A framework for questionnaire design: Labaw revisitedMarketing Bulletin 9 28-39. Retrieved March 10, 2002, from http://marketing-bulletin.massey.ac.nz/article9/article3b.asp

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      Philip Gendall , Professor of Marketing and Head of  Department of Marketing, Massey University, has revisited Labaw's (1980)book, Advanced questionnaire design , which has been largely dismissed and, according to Gendall, wrongly dismissed by academics.  Gendall discusses the conceptual model of questionnaire design that Labaw put forward in her book. He uses a pyramid to convey the ideas that Labaw discussed, with the general principles at the top and specific principles at the bottom. At the top of this pyramid is the concept of respondent orientation, and at the bottom, the specific principles of question wording and graphic design.  The single, most fundamental questionnaire design principle presented by Labaw is that the respondent controls the questions you can ask, the words you use, the topics you will explore, and the methodology you will use.
  • Taylor-Powell, Ellen. (1998). Questionnaire design: Asking questions with a purpose. University of Wisconsin. Extension. Cooperative Education. Retrieved March 20, 2002, from http://www1.uwex.edu/ces/pubs/pdf/G3658_2.PDF 

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      This  well- layed-out, twenty page booklet offers advice for constructing a questionnaire, wording questions, formatting the questionnaire, and pretesting the questionnaire, with question examples to illustrate most of the topics considered. 
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