Online Panel Research

Provides new insights into the accuracy and value of online panels for completing surveys

Over the last decade, there has been a major global shift in survey and market research towards data collection, using samples selected from online panels. Yet despite their widespread use, remarkably little is known about the quality of the resulting data.

This edited volume is one of the first attempts to carefully examine the quality of the survey data being generated by online samples. It describes some of the best empirically-based research on what has become a very important yet controversial method of collecting data. Online Panel Research presents 19 chapters of previously unpublished work addressing a wide range of topics, including coverage bias, nonresponse, measurement error, adjustment techniques, the relationship between nonresponse and measurement error, impact of smartphone adoption on data collection, Internet rating panels, and operational issues.

The datasets used to prepare the analyses reported in the chapters are available on the accompanying website: www.wiley.com/go/online_panel

• Covers controversial topics such as professional respondents, speeders, and respondent validation.
• Addresses cutting-edge topics such as the challenge of smartphone survey completion, software to manage online panels, and Internet and mobile ratings panels.
• Discusses and provides examples of comparison studies between online panels and other surveys or benchmarks.
• Describes adjustment techniques to improve sample representativeness.
• Addresses coverage, nonresponse, attrition, and the relationship between nonresponse and measurement error with examples using data from the United States and Europe.
• Addresses practical questions such as motivations for joining an online panel and best practices for managing communications with panelists.
• Presents a meta-analysis of determinants of response quantity.
• Features contributions from 50 international authors with a wide variety of backgrounds and expertise.

This book will be an invaluable resource for opinion and market researchers, academic researchers relying on web-based data collection, governmental researchers, statisticians, psychologists, sociologists, and other research practitioners.

Autorentext

Mario Callegaro, Survey Research Scientist, Quantitative Marketing, Google Inc., UK

Reg Baker, President & Chief Operating Officer, Market Strategies International, USA

Paul J. Lavrakas, Nielsen Media Research, Research Psychologist/Research Methodologist, USA

Jon A. Krosnick, Professor of Political Science, Communication, Psychology, Stanford University, USA

Jelke Bethlehem, Department of Quantitative Economics, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Anja Göritz, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Department of Economics and Social Psychology, Germany

Inhalt

Preface xv Acknowledgments xvii About the Editors xix About the Contributors xxiii 1 Online panel research: History, concepts, applications and a look at the future 1 Mario Callegaro, Reg Baker, Jelke Bethlehem, Anja S. Göritz, Jon A. Krosnick, and Paul J. Lavrakas 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Internet penetration and online panels 2 1.3 Definitions and terminology 2 1.4 A brief history of online panels 4 1.5 Development and maintenance of online panels 6 1.6 Types of studies for which online panels are used 15 1.7 Industry standards, professional associations' guidelines, and advisory groups 15 1.8 Data quality issues 17 1.9 Looking ahead to the future of online panels 17 2 A critical review of studies investigating the quality of data obtained with online panels based on probability and nonprobability samples 23 Mario Callegaro, Ana Villar, David Yeager, and Jon A. Krosnick 2.1 Introduction 23 2.2 Taxonomy of comparison studies 24 2.3 Accuracy metrics 27 2.4 Large-scale experiments on point estimates 28 2.5 Weighting adjustments 35 2.6 Predictive relationship studies 36 2.7 Experiment replicability studies 38 2.8 The special case of pre-election polls 42 2.9 Completion rates and accuracy 43 2.10 Multiple panel membership 43 2.11 Online panel studies when the offline population is less of a concern 46 2.12 Life of an online panel member 47 2.13 Summary and conclusion 48 Part I COVERAGE 55 Introduction to Part I 56 Mario Callegaro and Jon A. Krosnick 3 Assessing representativeness of a probability-based online panel in Germany 61 Bella Struminskaya, Lars Kaczmirek, Ines Schaurer, and Wolfgang Bandilla 3.1 Probability-based online panels 61 3.2 Description of the GESIS Online Panel Pilot 62 3.3 Assessing recruitment of the Online Panel Pilot 66 3.4 Assessing data quality: Comparison with external data 68 3.5 Results 74 3.6 Discussion and conclusion 80 4 Online panels and validity: Representativeness and attrition in the Finnish eOpinion panel 86 Kimmo Grönlund and Kim Strandberg 4.1 Introduction 86 4.2 Online panels: Overview of methodological considerations 87 4.3 Design and research questions 88 4.4 Data and methods 90 4.5 Findings 92 4.6 Conclusion 100 5 The untold story of multi-mode (online and mail) consumer panels: From optimal recruitment to retention and attrition 104 Allan L. McCutcheon, Kumar Rao, and Olena Kaminska 5.1 Introduction 104 5.2 Literature review 107 5.3 Methods 108 5.4 Results 115 5.5 Discussion and conclusion 124 Part II NONRESPONSE 127 Introduction to Part II 128 Jelke Bethlehem and Paul J. Lavrakas 6 Nonresponse and attrition in a probability-based online panel for the general population 135 Peter Lugtig, Marcel Das, and Annette Scherpenzeel 6.1 Introduction 135 6.2 Attrition in online panels versus offline panels 137 6.3 The LISS panel 139 6.4 Attrition modeling and results 142 6.5 Comparison of attrition and nonresponse bias 148 6.6 Discussion and conclusion 150 7 Determinants of the starting rate and the completion rate in online panel studies 154 Anja S. Göritz 7.1 Introduction 154 7.2 Dependent variables 155 7.3 Independent variables 156 7.4 Hypotheses 156 7.5 Method 163 7.6 Results 164 7.7 Discussion and conclusion 166 8 Motives for joining nonprobability online panels and their association with survey participation behavior 171 Florian Keusch, Bernad Batinic, and Wolfgang Mayerhofer 8.1 Introduction 171 8.2 Motives for survey participation and panel enrollment 173 8.3 Present study 176 8.4 Results 179 8.5 Conclusion 185 9 Informing panel members about study results: Effects of traditional and innovative forms of feedback on participation 192 Annette Scherpenzeel and Vera Toepoel 9.1 Introduction 192 9.2 Background 193 9.3 Method 196 9.4 Results 199 9.5 Discussion and conclusion 207 Part III MEASUREMENT ERROR 215 Introduction to Part III 216 Reg Baker and Mario Callegaro 10 Professional respondents in nonprobability online panels 219 D. Sunshine Hillygus, Natalie Jackson, and McKenzie Young 10.1 Introduction 219 10.2 Background 220 10.3 Professional respondents and data quality 221 10.4 Approaches to handling professional respondents 223 10.5 Research hypotheses 224 10.6 Data and methods 225 10.7 Results 226 10.8 Satisficing behavior 229 10.9 Discussion 232 11 The impact of speeding on data quality in nonprobability and freshly recruited probability-based online panels 238 Robert Greszki, Marco Meyer, and Harald Schoen 11.1 Introduction 238 11.2 Theoretical framework 239 11.3 Data and methodology 242 11.4 Response time as indicator of data quality 243 11.5 How to measure "speeding"? 246 11.6 Does speeding matter? 251 11.7 Conclusion 257 Part IV WEIGHTING ADJUSTMENTS 263 Introduction to Part IV 264 Jelke Bethlehem and Mario Callegaro 12 Improving web survey quality: Potentials and constraints of propensity score adjustments 273 Stephanie Steinmetz, Annamaria Bianchi, Kea Tijdens, and Silvia Biffignandi 12.1 Introduction 273 12.2 Survey quality and sources of error in nonprobability web surveys 274 12.3 Data, bias…