1. A comparison of web-based and telephone surveys for assessing traffic safety concerns, beliefs, and behaviors
- Author
-
Alice F. Yan, Min Qi Wang, and Kenneth H. Beck
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Automobile Driving ,Engineering ,Adolescent ,Health Behavior ,Poison control ,Computer security ,computer.software_genre ,Occupational safety and health ,law.invention ,Sobriety ,law ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,Environmental health ,Injury prevention ,Seat belt ,Humans ,Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality ,Aged ,Internet ,Chi-Square Distribution ,business.industry ,Speed limit ,Accidents, Traffic ,Human factors and ergonomics ,Middle Aged ,Telephone ,Logistic Models ,Telephone interview ,Female ,Safety ,business ,computer - Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this investigation was to compare the results of a web-based and a telephone interview survey measuring driver concerns about a variety of traffic safety issues, their beliefs, and specific driving behaviors. METHOD: State-wide, annual random digit-dial telephone surveys and web-based surveys were conducted in Maryland. A total of 1,700 drivers were surveyed by telephone and 6,806 took a web survey. RESULTS: Telephone respondents were more likely to be female and older. Web respondents were more likely to be white and not Latino/Hispanic. After controlling for demographic differences, telephone survey respondents were more likely to be concerned about traffic safety. They were more likely to believe that sobriety checkpoints reduce drunk driving (OR=2.18, 95% CI 1.94, 2.45), they would be ticketed for not wearing a seat belt (OR=1.26, 95% CI 1.12, 1.43), and they would be stopped by the police if they drove after drinking too much (OR=1.17, 95% CI 1.03, 1.32). They were less likely to report a variety of risky behaviors including using a cell phone while driving (OR=.54, 95% CI .48, .61) and driving 10+ mph over the speed limit (OR=.81, 95% CI .72, .91), but were more likely to report having been ticketed for a moving violation in the last month (OR=2.22, 95% CI 1.70, 2.90). Suggestions are offered for overcoming potential sources of sampling bias. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Web-based surveys produce substantially different results than random-digit-dial telephone surveys, when used for public assessments of traffic safety concerns and behaviors. Language: en
- Published
- 2009