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Recent advances in web survey methodology were motivated by the observation that respondents increasingly use mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, to participate in web surveys. Even though we do not doubt this general observation, we argue that the claim is lacking a solid empirical basis. Most research on increasing mobile device use in web surveys covers limited periods of time and/or analyzes data from only one study or panel. There is a surprising lack of comprehensive overviews on the magnitude of mobile device use in web surveys. In the present study, we explored this research gap by analyzing data from 128 web surveys collected in four different academic studies in Germany between 2012 and 2020. Overall, we found strong empirical evidence for an increase in smartphone use, a stagnation in tablet use, and a decrease in desktop PC use. There was no evidence that the increase in smartphone use will slow down any time soon. Thus, we recommend that survey researchers prepare for a device change in web surveys that may enable new applications in web surveys.

Filter questions are used to administer follow-up questions to eligible respondents while allowing respondents who are not eligible to skip those questions. Filter questions can be asked in either the interleafed or the grouped formats. In the interleafed format, the follow-ups are asked immediately after the filter question; in the grouped format, follow-ups are asked after the filter question block. Underreporting can occur in the interleafed format due to respondents’ desire to reduce the burden of the survey. This phenomenon is called motivated misreporting. Because smartphone surveys are more burdensome than web surveys completed on a computer or laptop, due to the smaller screen size, longer page loading times, and more distraction, we expect that motivated misreporting is more pronounced on smartphones. Furthermore, we expect that misreporting occurs not only in the filter questions themselves but also extends to data quality in the follow-up questions. We randomly assigned 3,517 respondents of a German online access panel to either the PC or the smartphone. Our results show that while both PC and smartphone respondents trigger fewer filter questions in the interleafed format than the grouped format, we did not find differences between PC and smartphone respondents regarding the number of triggered filter questions. However, smartphone respondents provide lower data quality in the follow-up questions, especially in the grouped format. We conclude with recommendations for web survey designers who intend to incorporate smartphone respondents in their surveys.

The ever-growing number of respondents completing web surveys via smartphones is paving the way for leveraging technological advances to improve respondents’ survey experience and, in turn, the quality of their answers. Smartphone surveys enable researchers to incorporate audio and voice features into web surveys, that is, having questions read aloud to respondents using pre-recorded audio files and collecting voice answers via the smartphone’s microphone. Moving from written to audio and voice communication channels might be associated with several benefits, such as humanizing the communication process between researchers and respondents. However, little is known about respondents’ willingness to undergo this change in communication channels. Replicating and extending earlier research, we examine the extent to which respondents are willing to use audio and voice channels in web surveys, the reasons for their (non)willingness, and respondent characteristics associated with (non)willingness. The results of a web survey conducted in a nonprobability online panel in Germany ( N = 2146) reveal that more than 50% of respondents would be willing to have the questions read aloud (audio channel) and about 40% would also be willing to give answers via voice input (voice channel). While respondents mostly name a general openness to new technologies for their willingness, they mostly name preference for written communication for their nonwillingness. Finally, audio and voice channels in smartphone surveys appeal primarily to frequent and competent smartphone users as well as younger and tech-savvy respondents.

Probing questions, essentially open-ended comment boxes that are attached to a traditional closed-ended question, are increasingly used in online surveys. They give respondents an opportunity to share information that goes beyond what can be captured through standardized response categories. However, even when probes are non-mandatory, they can add to perceived response burden and incur a cost in the form of lower respondent cooperation. This paper seeks to measure this cost and reports on a survey experiment that was integrated into a short questionnaire on a German salary comparison site (N = 22,306). Respondents were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a control without a probing question; a probe that was embedded directly into the closed-ended question; and a probe displayed on a subsequent page. For every meaningful comment gathered, the embedded design resulted in 0.1 break-offs and roughly 3.7 item missings for the closed-ended question. The paging design led to 0.2 additional break-offs for every open-ended answer it collected. Against expectations, smartphone users were more likely to provide meaningful (albeit shorter) open-ended answers than those using a PC or laptop. However, smartphone use also amplified the adverse effects of the probe on break-offs and item non-response to the closed-ended question. Despite documenting their hidden cost, this paper argues that the value of the additional information gathered by probes can make them worthwhile. In conclusion, it endorses the selective use of probes as a tool to better understand survey respondents, methods, data, analyses, Online First

Increasing use of web surveys and different devices for survey completion calls for examination of device effects on survey response quality. Whereas most previous studies are based on web panels, subgroups (e.g. students) or short questionnaires designed for device experiments, compelling participants to respond through specific devices, this study is based on two large nationally representative cross sectional samples (ISSP 2018 and ISSP 2019) where completion device was optional. Seven indicators of response quality are applied, allowing a comparison among survey participants answering the questionnaire by smartphone, tablet and by PC. Results are in line with previous findings, and do not give support to any assumptions of device effects in the quality of responses. Respondents’ self-evaluated engagement in survey completion do not differ across devices, and only small and non-systematic differences between devices on satisficing indicators such as the tendency to agree regardless of question content (acquiescence), non-substantive answers, selection of mid-point response options and primacy effects, and straightlining are identified. Controlling the associations between response device and the response quality indicators for self-selection biases did not change the overall result.

This paper presents the findings derived from a mobile friendly web survey, during which all invitations and reminders were sent as text messages via short message service (SMS) to the mobile telephones of the target group. The web survey under study was conducted for the National Theatre of Northern Greece (NTNG), the largest theatrical organization of Greece. The list of mobile phone numbers was provided by the organization and the aim of the survey was to collect data from people who have attended events organized by NTNG. The paper examines the impact of various design study features such as pre-notifications, time and day of SMS delivery, lag between invitations and reminders on survey response. It is demonstrated that SMS pre-notifications can significantly improve response rates. The paper suggests that when the mobile phone numbers of the target group are available, it is feasible to conduct a large-scale web survey using SMS as the only contact mode.

As a self-administered survey mode, web surveys allow respondents to temporarily leave the survey page and switch to another web page in a different browser tab or to another window/app. This form of sequential multitasking has the potential to disrupt the response process and reduce data quality if respondents become distracted (Krosnick, 1991; Sendelbah et al., 2016). Browser data indicating respondents leaving the survey page allow non-reactive measurement of their multitasking. We investigated the prevalence of page switching, number of switching events and time spent absent per event with respect to respondents’ characteristics and devices used. Furthermore, we analysed the association with data quality (item missing, differentiation in grid questions and number of characters to open-ended questions). The results indicate that the prevalence of page switching is relatively low and the durations of page switching events are rather short. Also, respondents using a PC/tablet are more likely to leave the survey page than those using a smartphone. As to data quality, we did not find any correlation between page switching and the quality of the answers. Thus, this study provides no evidence that multitasking poses a threat to data quality. The findings are discussed with respect to the delimitations of multitasking using browser paradata.

As survey costs increase and response rates decrease, researchers are looking for alternative methods to collect data from study subjects. Passively collected data may offer a way to reduce the burden on research subjects while also collecting high-quality data needed for social science research. Examples of passive data collection tools are applications installed on mobile devices and sensors in subjects’ homes or worn on the body. In this study, we focus on always-on location data collected from subjects’ iPhones. To explore the promise of passively collected data to augment and improve survey data, we conducted a 2-week pilot study with 24 subjects. We discuss the utility of always-on location data and the challenges researchers may encounter when they incorporate location data in their analyses.

Within the survey context, a geofence can be defined as a geographical area that triggers a survey invitation when an individual enters the area, dwells in the area for a defined amount of time or exits the area. Geofences may be used to administer context-specific surveys, such as an evaluation survey of a shopping experience at a specific retail location. While geofencing is already used in other contexts (e.g., marketing and retail), this technology seems so far to be underutilized in survey research. We implemented a geofence survey in a smartphone data collection project and geofenced 410 job centers with the Google Geofence API. Overall, the app sent 230 geofence-triggered survey invitations to 107 participants and received 224 responses from 104 participants. This article provides an overview of our geofence survey, including our experiences analyzing the data. We highlight the limitations in our design and examine how those shortcomings affect the number of falsely triggered surveys. Subsequently, we formulate the lessons learned that will help researchers improve their own geofence studies.

Previous research shows that a high proportion of respondents engage in other activities while answering surveys. In this study, we examine the effect of multitasking in reporting sensitive information and socially undesirable behavior (e.g., substance use, mental health, gambling) along with reporting of knowledge/awareness of publicly funded programs. The dataset comes from a dual-frame random digit dial telephone survey of adults in a Midwestern state (N = 1,761) who were asked about their attitudes and behaviors toward gambling and health-related behaviors. The results of the study reveal that nearly half of the respondents engaged in multitasking activities (46.9%). In addition, it was found that multitaskers disclosed more socially undesirable information and reported lower levels of knowledge than non-multitaskers. The implications of these findings and how they fit in with previous work are discussed.

The increasing use of smartphones opens up opportunities for novel ways of survey data collection, but also poses new challenges. Collecting more and different types of data means that studies can become increasingly intrusive. We risk over-asking participants, leading to nonresponse. This study documents nonresponse and nonresponse bias in a smartphone-only version of the Dutch Time Use Survey (TUS). Respondents from the Dutch LISS panel were asked to perform five sets of tasks to complete the whole TUS: 1) accept an invitation to participate in the study and install an app, 2) fill out a questionnaire on the web, 3) participate in the smartphone time use diary on their smartphone, 4) answer pop-up questions and 5) give permission to record sensor data (GPS locations and call data). Results show that 42.9% of invited panel members responded positively to the invitation to participate in a smartphone survey. However, only 28.9% of these willing panel members completed all stages of the study. Predictors of nonresponse are somewhat different at every stage. In addition, respondents who complete all smartphone tasks are different from groups who do not participate at some or any stage of the study. By using data collected in previous waves we show that nonresponse leads to nonresponse bias in estimates of time use. We conclude by discussing implications for using smartphone apps in survey research., Survey Research Methods, Vol 13 No 2 (2019)

Mobile phone surveys are increasingly prevalent in low- and middle-income countries. The main modes include computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI), interactive voice response (IVR), and short message service (SMS, or text messaging). But there is surprisingly little research to guide researchers in selecting the optimal mode for a particular survey. To address this gap, this study compares cross-sectional CATI, IVR, SMS, and face-to-face (FTF) surveys of the general population in Nigeria. We ask four research questions: (1) What are production and response rates to CATI, IVR, SMS, and FTF surveys? (2) How representative (age, gender, education, marital status, literacy, household assets, urbanicity) are CATI, IVR, and SMS respondents relative to FTF respondents? (3) Can IVR and SMS provide an unbiased estimate of voting behavior? If there is bias, to what extent can weights reduce bias? (4) How does the cost and time differ across mobile phone survey modes? We find that FTF had the highest response rate (99%), followed by CATI (15%), IVR (3%) and SMS (0.2%). All mobile phone modes had substantial deficiencies with representativeness: mobile phones underrepresented women, older people, the less educated, and people in rural areas. There were differences in representativeness among mobile phone modes, but differences were relatively small and inconsistent. Both SMS and IVR produced biased estimates of voting relative to official statistics – but SMS was less biased than IVR. Weighting SMS and IVR data for demographic characteristics did not reduce bias. With regard to cost, we find that CATI is the most expensive mobile phone survey mode. For a survey of 3,000 completes, IVR is 43% the cost of CATI, and SMS is 24% the cost of CATI. SMS is significantly less expensive than IVR. We discuss the implications of these results for research and practice., Survey Research Methods, Vol 13 No 3 (2019)

The Asthma Call-back Survey (ACBS) is conducted after the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey by calling BRFSS respondents who reported ever being diagnosed with asthma. To find response patterns and increase ACBS response rates, we first examined whether obtaining consents during the BRFSS survey could increase call back response rates by reducing the refusal and break-off. Then, we assessed how the lag days between BRFSS and ACBS interviews affected response rates. BRFSS cell phone respondents agreed more often to being called back than did landline respondents (75.5 vs. 70.9 percent). However, when respondents were contacted for ACBS, the cell phone response rate was lower than landline response rate (43.4 vs. 47.0 percent), except among males aged 25-34 years, for which the cell phone response rate was 2.1 percent higher than the landline response rate. ACBS response rate for landline and cell phone response were highest if the callback was within 2 days of BRFSS interviews (92.3 vs. 88.8 percent). As lag days increased, the response rate decreased. The cell phone response rate showed a sharper drop; after 2 weeks, the response rate gap between landline and cell phone samples reached 17.3 percent.

A sizable minority of all web surveys are nowadays completed on smartphones. People who choose a smartphone for Internet-related tasks are different from people who mainly use a PC or tablet. Smartphone use is particularly high among the young and urban. We have to make web surveys attractive for smartphone completion in order not to lose these groups of smartphone users. In this paper we study how to encourage people to complete surveys on smartphones in order to attract hard-to-reach subgroups of the population. We experimentally test new features of a survey-friendly design: we test two versions of an invitation letter to a survey, a new questionnaire lay-out, and autoforwarding. The goal of the experiment is to evaluate whether the new survey design attracts more smartphone users, leads to a better survey experience on smartphones and results in more respondents signing up to become a member of a probability-based online panel. Our results show that the invitation letter that emphasizes the possibility for smartphone completion does not yield a higher response rate than the control condition, nor do we find differences in the socio-demographic background of respondents. We do find that slightly more respondents choose a smartphone for survey completion. The changes in the layout of the questionnaire do lead to a change in survey experience on the smartphone. Smartphone respondents need 20% less time to complete the survey when the questionnaire includes autoforwarding. However, we do not find that respondents evaluate the survey better, nor are they more likely to become a member of the panel when asked at the end of the survey. We conclude with a discussion of autoforwarding in web surveys and methods to attract smartphone users to web surveys., methods, data, analyses, Vol 13, No 2 (2019)

For many years, web surveys have already been the most frequently used survey mode in Germany and elsewhere (ADM, 2018; ESOMAR, 2018). Moreover, respondents increasingly use mobile devices, especially smartphones (or less often tablets), to access the Internet and participate in surveys. Because of those new developments within the Internet usage landscape, this contribution expands an earlier Survey Guideline on web surveys (Bandilla, 2015) by addressing methodological advantages and disadvantages of mixed-device as well as mobile web surveys. Moreover, it provides best practice advice on the implementation of such surveys in the areas of sampling, questionnaire design, paradata collection, and software solutions. Seit vielen Jahren sind Online-Umfragen der populärste Umfragemodus im In- und Ausland (ADM, 2018; ESOMAR, 2018). Zunehmend benutzen Befragte mobile Endgeräte, insbesondere Smartphones (seltener Tablets), um auf das Internet zuzugreifen und an Befragungen teilzunehmen. Aufgrund dieser neuen Entwicklungen im Nutzungsverhalten erweitert dieser Beitrag eine frühere Guideline für Web-Umfragen (Bandilla, 2015), indem er sich mit den methodischen Vor- und Nachteilen von Mixed-Device-Befragungen und Umfragen auf mobilen Endgeräten befasst. Darüber hinaus behandelt er bewährte Verfahrensweisen zur Durchführung solcher Umfragen in den Bereichen Stichprobenziehung, Fragebogendesign, Paradatenerfassung und Softwarelösungen.

Coverage of the population within the sampling frame is a very important quality characteristic of a study. However, a metrical evaluation of the coverage bias to approach the question of representativeness is usually not possible. Switzerland stands out in that the federal statistical office (SFSO) has legal access to population registers (person universe) and a full list of landline telephone numbers (phone number universe). However, these data are not available for research institutes, which must rely on commercially available number collections or RDD sampling frames. This paper wants to quantify the coverage bias of such alternative sampling frames by metric calculation of their congruence with the SFSO universes. The analysis shows that 85.0% of private phone numbers and 88.9% of the resident population of Switzerland that can be reached via landline by the SFSO definition (non-ALTELs) are included in our exemplarily analyzed commercially available phone number collection. The highest coverage bias is present in the 20-39 age group. The RDD frame covers 97.8% of private phone numbers and 99.8% of non-ALTEL persons. Hence, both available alternative sampling frames are useful for representative studies. Finally, the potential of use of the Swiss coverage results as benchmarks for other countries is discussed., methods, data, analyses, Vol 10, No 2 (2016)

The continued rise in smartphone penetration globally afford survey researchers with an unprecedented portal into personal survey data collection from respondents who could complete surveys from virtually any place at any time. While the basic research into optimizing the survey experience and data collection on mobile devices has continued to develop, there are still fundamental gaps in our knowledge of how to optimize certain types of questions in the mobile setting. In fact, survey researchers are still trying to understand which online design principles directly translate into presentation on mobile devices and which principles have to be modified to incorporate separate methods for these devices. One such area involves the use of input styles such as sliding scales that lend themselves to more touch centric input devices such as smartphones or tablets. Operationalizing these types of scales begs the question of an optimal starting position and whether these touch centric input styles are equally preferred by respondents using less touch capable devices. While an outside starting position seems optimal for slider questions completed via computer, this solution may not be optimal for completion via mobile devices as these devices are subjected to far more space and layout constraints compared to computers. This experiment moves the mixed device survey literature forward by directly comparing outcomes from respondents who completed a collection of survey scales using their smartphone, tablet or computer. Within each device, respondents were randomly assigned to complete one of 20 possible versions of scale items determined by a combination of three experimental factors including input style, length and number formatting. Results from this study suggest more weaknesses than strengths for using slider scales to collect survey data using mobile devices and also suggest that preference for these touch centric input styles varies across devices and may not be as high as the preference for the more traditional radio button style., methods, data, analyses, Vol 9, No 2 (2015)

Die Vorzüge von Dual-Frame-Telefonerhebungen in Deutschland wurden bereits im Zuge der beiden CELLA-Erhebungen ausgiebig untersucht. Beide Erhebungen wurden durch GESIS, das Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften, gemeinsam mit der Technischen Universität Dresden 2007/2008 und 2010/2011 veranlasst. Neben einer Vielzahl an Erkenntnissen über die Only-Population und den Möglichkeiten und Limitationen solcher Erhebungen, war ein entscheidendes Ergebnis die Entwicklung eines Gewichtungsansatzes, der auch heutzutage noch immer Verwendung findet. Dieser basiert auf einem Horvitz-Thompson-Schätzer zur Berücksichtigung ungleicher Auswahlwahrscheinlichkeiten sowie einem GREG-Schätzer zur Kalibrierung und Anpassungsgewichtung bei Non-response. Jedoch berücksichtigt dieses Vorgehen keine Antwortausfälle, die sich aufgrund der Auswahlgrundlage ergeben. Eine weitere Untersuchung der Daten der Erhebung CELLA 2 lässt indes vermuten, dass weitere Faktoren, fernab der soziodemografischen Charakteristika die Teilnahmewahrscheinlichkeit in solchen Erhebungen beeinflussen kann. Da die Kontaktergebnisse nach verwendetem Telekommunikationsmedium innerhalb dieser Erhebung erheblich voneinander abweichen, besteht die Vermutung, dass eine weitere Quelle des Nonresponse durch sich unterscheidende Nutzungsgewohnheiten von bestimmten Telekommunikationsmedien beschrieben werden kann. Um dieser Möglichkeit nachzugehen, führt die vorliegende Arbeit einen Gewichtungsansatz ein, der gerade diese von der Auswahlgrundlage und dem Telekommunikationsmedium abhängigen Quellen stärker berücksichtig. Dazu wird zuvor der Bereich der sog. Dual-User in mehrere disjunkte Nutzungskategorien unterteilt und anschließend ein modifizierter Composite-Gewichtungsansatz vorgestellt. Dieses Vorgehen wird anschließend anhand von geeigneten Erhebungen ausgiebig untersucht., The benefits of dual-frame telephone surveys in Germany have been extensively examined within both CELLA studies that GESIS, the Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, conducted in cooperation with the Dresden University of Technology in 2007/2008 and 2010/2011. Besides numerous insight regarding the population of only-households and the potentials of dual-frame surveys, a key-development has been a weighting approach that is nowadays commonly practised when weighting dual-frame surveys in Germany. The weighting approach adjusts for unequal inclusion probabilities by employing the Horvitz-Thompson-Estimator and for frame-independent nonresponse caused by socio-demographic characteristics using the GREG-Estimator. However, this weighting approach does not consider nonresponse in dual-frame surveys that is frame-dependent. A further investigation of CELLA 2's data suggests that there might be factors apart from socio-demographic characteristics that can affect individual response behavior. Since CELLA 2's call-outcomes of the landline and mobile sample differ considerably, another source of nonresponse might be determined by varying usage-patterns of specific means of communications within the overlap domain of a dual-frame survey. Therefore, this book will introduce a weighting approach that takes such frame-dependent, device-specific Response behavior into account by subdividing the overlap domain into several, disjoint categories determined by usage-patterns and employing a composite design weighting approach. This newly introduced weighting approach will then be evaluated by application on appropriate dual-frame surveys., GESIS-Schriftenreihe

Previous research has shown that people often engage in other activities while responding to surveys and that respondents’ multitasking generally has no effect on indicators of data quality (e.g., item non-response, non-differentiation). One of the limitations of these studies is that they have mostly used self-reported measures of respondents’ multitasking. We build on prior research by combining self-reported measures of multitasking with interviewers' observations of respondents' distractions recorded after each interview. The dataset comes from a statewide dual-frame random digit dial telephone survey of adults in a Midwestern state (n = 1,006) who were queried on topics related to awareness of and attitudes toward STEM education. We found that multitasking was frequent (45.6%) and that respondents who reported engaging in other activities were described as distracted twice as often as those who did not report multitasking (38.3% versus 19.0%). In terms of data quality, respondents who were multitasking provided less accurate responses to a knowledge question. However, we found no evidence that distractions, assessed by interviewers, compromised data quality. The implications of the results for survey practices are discussed.

Despite the acknowledged influence of call patterns on contact and response rates in telephone surveys, this relationship is scarcely investigated in mobile CATI surveys. This paper evaluates the effect of call patterns on the likelihood of making contact and of obtaining an interview in a mobile CATI survey and thus furthers the understanding of the potential of mobile phones as a survey mode. Findings reveal that the likelihood of making contact and of obtaining an interview is not uniform across days of the week or times of the day – Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the worst days to make contact and obtain cooperation; weekends are good for successful callbacks. Additionally, longer time lags between consecutive calls do not favour the likelihood of contact or of interview and it is very difficult to interview mobile phone numbers with a call history with many “voicemail” and “rings but no answer” outcomes. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

More and more respondents use mobile devices to complete web surveys. These devices have different characteristics, if compared to PCs (e.g. smaller screen sizes and higher portability). These characteristics can affect the survey responses, mostly when a questionnaire includes sensitive questions. This topic was already studied by Mavletova and Couper (2013), through a two-wave experiment comparing PCs and mobile devices results for the same respondents in a Russian opt-in panel. We replicated this cross-over design, focusing on an opt-in panel for Spain, involving 1,800 panellists and comparing PCs and smartphones. Our results support most of Mavletova and Couper’s (2013) findings (e.g. generally the used device does not significantly affect the reporting of sensitive information), confirming their robustness over the two studied countries. For other results (e.g. trust in data confidentiality), we found differences that can be justified by the diverse context/culture or by the quick changes that are still characterizing the mobile web survey participation., Survey Research Methods, Vol 10, No 2 (2016)

Research conducted over the past 30 years has demonstrated a reduction in errors and improvement in data quality when face–to-face social surveys are carried out using computers instead of paper and pencil. However, research examining the quality of data collected by interviewers using mobile devices is in its infancy and is based in developed countries. In a small pilot study conducted during the World Bank’s Kenya State of the Cities Baseline Survey, a face-to-face survey on living conditions, infrastructure and service delivery, the authors compared the quality of data collected using smartphones to data collected using tablets. The study of mobile touchscreen devices showed that tablets outperformed phones in some cases, but that the results were highly dependent on the interviewer.

The use of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets for survey completion is growing rapidly, raising concerns regarding data quality in general, and nonresponse and measurement error in particular. We use the data from six online waves of the GESIS Panel, a probability-based mixed-mode panel representative of the German population to study whether the responses provided using tablets or smartphones differ on indicators of measurement and nonresponse errors from responses provided via personal computers or laptops. We follow an approach chosen by Lugtig and Toepoel (2015), using the following indicators of nonresponse error: item nonresponse, providing an answer to an open question; and the following indicators of measurement error: straightlining, number of characters in open questions, choice of left-aligned options in horizontal scales, and survey duration. Moreover, we extend the scope of past research by exploring whether data quality is a function of device-type or respondent-type characteristics using multilevel models. Overall, we find that responding with mobile devices is associated with a higher likelihood of measurement discrepancies compared to PC/laptop survey completion. For smartphone survey completion, the indicators of measurement and nonresponse error tend to be higher than for tablet completion. We find that most indicators of nonresponse and measurement error used in our analysis cannot be attributed to the respondent characteristics but are rather effects of mobile devices., methods, data, analyses, Vol 9, No 2 (2015)

In 2007 the percentage of mobile-only households in Portugal reached 36%; this is one of the highest levels in EU27 countries according to the EU E-Communications Households Survey. To assess the extent and nature of the potential bias in fixed phone surveys created by the absence of mobile-only households, a dual frame survey was conducted in which both fixed phones and mobile phones were used to collect data. There are significant differences between fixed phone respondents and mobile-only respondents in several demographic variables; however, we find that merging the fixed phone and the mobile-only sample produces general population estimates on substantive variables that are not significantly different from those obtained with the fixed phone sample alone., Survey Research Methods, Vol 3, No 2 (2009)

Survey organizations rely on interviewers to make informed and efficient decisions about their efforts in the field, including which housing units they approach to knock on doors, make appointments, and obtain interviews. This paper presents initial findings from a feasibility test on a face to face survey, the US National Survey of Family Growth, in which the interviewers were equipped with GPS-enabled smartphones. This test included an experiment to determine if the use of the GPS-enabled smartphone altered interviewer behavior. We evaluate interviewer compliance with the GPS request, the effects of using the GPS device on interviewer behavior, and the quality of the recorded GPS points as related to interviewer behaviors. This test also included two surveys of interviewers that were completed after using the smartphone. We report results from these surveys and link one set of survey results to interviewer GPS compliance rates. Implications for future use of GPS devices to monitor and understand interviewer travel behavior are discussed., Survey Research Methods, Vol 9, No 1 (2015)

Although it is a quick and non-expensive tool used to collect survey data in Egypt, the landline telephone surveys cannot reach the non-landline households, which makes up 73.4 percent of the households in Egypt according to the 2012/2013 Egypt - Household Income, Expenditure, and Consumption Survey (HIECS). Therefore, among other centers, the Public Opinion Poll Center (POPC) adopted the dual frame telephone surveys as an alternative to the landline telephone surveys, in which the landline sample is supplemented by a Pseudo-Random-Digit-Dial (Pseudo-RDD) sample of cell phones. The cell phone sample can reach the cell-only households (households with no landline but are accessible by cell phone), about 66.7 percent, based on the 2012/2013 Egypt HIECS data; this contributes to reducing the potential coverage bias due to not covering these households in the landline telephone surveys. Although both are telephone samples, different weighting procedures may apply for each sample. Moreover, the overlapping between the two sampling frame should be properly identified and adjusted in the weighting procedures. In this paper, sampling design and weighting procedures for the dual frame telephone surveys in Egypt will be discussed. Data from the Current Issues Survey, conducted by the POPC in October 2014, will be used as a case study to illustrate the weighting procedures and to support our discussions.

In this paper, we look at the challenge of optimizing survey layout in online research to enable multi-device use. Several studies provide useful advice on target-oriented implementation of web design for CAWI surveys. This paper presents results of the implementation of a new adapted design at the panel of DemoSCOPE that allows the participants to take part in a survey on multiple (especially mobile) devices. To evaluate this adapted design, we compare interview data and question timing of panellists who participated in an insurance study before and after the design transition. Central key figures concerning the completion rate, item non-response, open questions, straightlining, timing of single questions and the length of the total interview are presented. In addition, we have presented examples of both old and new design to the community and invited them to assess these examples concerning orientation, color, design and usability. We evaluate the differences in these assessments before and after the design transition for smartphone and desktop users. We end with suggestions for best practice for online studies on different devices., methods, data, analyses, Vol 9, No 2 (2015)

This article presents analyses of data from a pilot study in Nepal that was designed to provide an initial examination of the errors and costs associated with an innovative methodology for survey data collection. We embedded a randomized experiment within a long-standing panel survey, collecting data on a small number of items with varying sensitivity from a probability sample of 450 young Nepalese adults. Survey items ranged from simple demographics to indicators of substance abuse and mental health problems. Sampled adults were randomly assigned to one of three different modes of data collection: a standard one-time telephone interview, a “single sitting” back-and-forth interview with an interviewer using text messaging, and an interview using text messages within a modular design framework. Respondents in the modular group were asked to respond (via text message exchanges with an interviewer) to only one question on a given day, rather than complete the entire survey. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses demonstrate that the two text messaging modes increased the probability of disclosing sensitive information relative to the telephone mode, and that respondents in the modular design group, while responding less frequently, found the survey to be significantly easier. Further, those who responded in the modular group were not unique in terms of available covariates, suggesting that the reduced item response rates only introduced limited nonresponse bias. Future research should consider enhancing this methodology, applying it with other modes of data collection (e.g., web surveys), and continuously evaluating its effectiveness from a total survey error perspective., Survey Research Methods, Vol 9, No 2 (2015)

This paper shows that computer users and smartphone users taking part in a web survey optimized for smartphones give responses of almost the same quality. Combining a design of one question in each page and innovative page navigation methods, we can get high quality data by both computer and smartphone users. The two groups of users are also compared with regard to their precisely measured item response times. The analysis shows that using a smartphone instead of a computer increases about 20% the geometric mean of item response times. The data analyzed in this paper were collected by a smartphone-friendly web survey. All question texts are short and the response buttons are large and easy to use. As a result, there are no significant interactions between smartphone use and either the length of the question or the age of the respondent. Thus, the longer response times among smartphone users should be explored in other causes, such as the likelihood of smartphone users being distracted by their environment., methods, data, analyses, Vol 9, No 2 (2015)

With the growing mobile-only population landline telephone surveys are increasingly complemented by mobile phone interviews using a dual frame approach. Typically it is assumed that a mobile phone is a personal device solely used by one individual. Even though several articles dealt with the eventuality that several persons may be reached when calling a mobile phone number, respondent selection procedures are currently not implemented. This paper provides further insight into this phenomenon. Using data from a 2010/11 survey conducted in the German cell phone population mobile phone sharing was examined indicating noteworthy prevalence rates. The sharing population also differed to the non-sharing population with respect to sociodemographic variables. Results are discussed in light of potential consequences for field work.

With the decrease of landline phones in the last decade, telephone survey methodologists face a new challenge to overcome coverage bias. In this study we investigate coverage error for telephone surveys in Europe over time and compare two situations: classical surveys that rely on landline only with surveys that also include mobile phones. We analyzed Eurobarometer data, which are collected by means of face-to-face interviews and contain information on ownership of landline and mobile phones. We show that for the period 2000-2009, time has a significant effect on both mobile phone penetration and coverage bias. In addition, the countries’ development significantly affects the pace of these changes.

Introduction to the issue, methods, data, analyses, Vol 9, No 2 (2015)

"Telefonische Befragungen über das Mobilfunknetz sind inzwischen ein Bestandteil der sozialwissenschaftlichen Datengewinnung. Da es sich beim Mobilfunk jedoch noch um eine relativ junge Befragungstechnologie handelt, stellt sich die Frage, inwieweit die Routine im Umgang mit dem Handy als eine Determinante der Antwortqualität wirkt. Dieser Frage wurde im Rahmen des Projektes CELLA nachgegangen (Telefonbefragungen in der Allgemeinbevölkerung über das Mobilfunknetz 2009, GESIS Köln, Deutschland, DOI: 10.4232/1.4875). CELLA wurde durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft gefördert und steht für telefonische Befragungen via Mobilfunk (CELl phone) und via Festnetz (LAndline phone). Zunächst werden die Operationalisierung und die Bildung eines Index beschrieben, anhand dessen die Routine im Umgang mit dem Mobilfunk gemessen werden kann. Auf der Basis von sechs Kriterien der Antwortqualität wird dann nach den entsprechenden Zusammenhängen gesucht. Dabei stellt sich heraus, dass sich - entgegen unseren ursprünglichen Erwartungen - solche Zusammenhänge jedoch kaum nachweisen lassen. Die Befunde sind für den Einsatz von telefonischen Befragungen über das Mobilfunknetz insgesamt positiv zu bewerten. Sie verdienen es aber auch, bei der Diskussion um die Determinanten der Antwortqualität bei Umfragen allgemein berücksichtigt zu werden. So zeigt sich vor allem, dass von einer ganzen Reihe an Determinanten ein stärkerer Einfluss auf die Antwortqualität ausgeht als von der Routine." (Autorenreferat) "Telephone surveys via mobile phones have become increasingly important for the social sciences. The use of mobile phones in interviews is still a novelty. Thus the question arises to what extent the respondents' experience with mobile phones influences the response quality. The German Research Foundation funded a CELLA project to investigate how to conduct mobile phone surveys. CELLA stands for CELl phone and LAndline phone surveys. Technische Universität Dresden, Germany, and GESIS - Leibniz Institute for Social Sciences, Germany, cooperated for that purpose. Data presented in the following section were collected within the frame of CELLA (Telefonbefragungen in der Allgemeinbevölkerung über das Mobilfunknetz 2009, GESIS Köln, DOI: 10.4232/1.4875). Firstly, an index for the experience in handling mobile phones is presented. This is followed by an examination of correlations between the index and six aspects of response quality. A significant influence of the experience was - against our expectations - not found. The results support the conduct of telephone surveys via mobile phones. Nevertheless, there are numerous determinants with stronger influence, which suggests that further research needs to be done." (author's abstract)

Mobile technology offers a promising means to collect survey data, though the factors that influence people’s willingness to participate in mobile surveys and their actual participation remain unknown. To identify these factors, this study considers six conceptually distinct influences that may relate to the propensity to participate in mobile surveys. Some of them affect technology acceptance and usage of (mobile) technology in general; another set comes from studies of participation in computer-assisted surveys. The proposed unified framework encompasses utilitarian, affective, hedonic, social, self-expressive, and trust-related factors. An empirical study suggests that this framework explains the intention to participate and actual participation well, though of the six factors, hedonic, affective, self-expressive, and trust-related ones are most influential. Utilitarian aspects and beliefs about perceived social pressure to participate do not play significant roles. The authors discuss the practical implications of these results and outline some further research avenues. (author's abstract)

"The value of administrative transaction data, such as financial transactions, credit card purchases, telephone calls, and retail store scanning data, to study social behaviour has long been recognised. Now new types of transactions data made possible by advances in cyber-technology have the potential to further exland social scientists’ research frontier. This chapter discusses the potential for such data to be included in the scientific infrastructure. It discusses new approaches to data dissemination, as well as the privacy and confidentiality issues raised by such data collection. It also discusses the characteristics of an optimal infrastructure to support the scientific analysis of transactions data." [author's abstract]

Der Autor geht der Frage nach, ob die Telefonstichproben der Markt- und Sozialforschung, die auf einem Auswahlmechanismus beruhen, welcher im Normalfall ausschließlich Festnetzrufnummern beinhaltet, im Jahre 2007 noch geeignet sind, qualitativ hochwertige Stichproben der Gesamtbevölkerung zu liefern. Denn die Zunahme der Mobilfunknutzung führt dazu, dass die Erreichbarkeit im Festnetz nicht mehr gegeben ist. Nicht nur die Anzahl derjenigen, die ausschließlich Mobilfunk nutzen, ist dabei von Interesse, sondern es kommt ein zweiter Aspekt hinzu: Gibt es systematische Unterschiede zwischen diesen beiden Subpopulationen und wenn ja, welche? Mit diesen beiden Fragekomplexen beschäftigt sich der erste Abschnitt des Beitrags anhand von Befragungsdaten aus dem TNS Infratest Face-to-Face-Omnibus. Im zweiten Abschnitt wird dargestellt, welche Lösungsansätze im Hinblick auf eine Integration der Mobilfunknummern in einen Auswahlrahmen für Telefonstichproben bislang verfolgt wurden. Abschließend werden einige weiterführende Aspekte diskutiert, die für die noch ausstehende Lösung des Mobilfunkproblems in Zukunft relevant sein könnten. (ICI2) "The article deals with the increasing use of mobile phones (cellular phones) in Germany with regard to the impact on probability sampling based on landline sample frames. Although the mobile penetration in the population is on a high density level the exclusive use of cell-phones and the abdication of fixed-line-telephones is quiet rare. Nevertheless the mobile-only-use has in some sub-populations reached a critical stage. In the last years research on methods of Market- und Social-Research have tried several ways of including mobile-phone-numbers in random telephone-samples. Currently a special form of random-last-digit approach, based on sophisticated reference lists not on the telephone-book, seems to be the most promising solution. Furthermore a coherent sample-design still needs to be developed in order to ensure efficient fieldwork and acceptable pricing. Last but not least the dynamic of the telecommunication sector should not be lost of track. On the one hand broadband internet connections will perhaps revitalise landline-phones. On the other hand new technical solutions will come up soon and will lead to further problems and possibilities for the future." (author's abstract)

'Der Arbeitsbericht enthält die Darstellung der Ergebnisse einer Delphi-Studie zur Zukunft des Mobilfunks. Zunächst werden kurz die Problemsituation in Bezug auf den Mobilfunk geschildert, die Eignung der Delphi-Methode als Zugang für Prognosen behandelt und das konkrete Vorgehen bei der Studie beschrieben. Die Darstellung der Ergebnisse gliedert sich dann in zwei Hauptabschnitte. Erstens wird unter dem Focus 'Mobiltelefonieren 2005' ein Überblick zu den Ergebnissen der in der Studie enthaltenen Fragen gegeben. Zweitens werden ausgewählte, im Rahmen der Diskussion um den Delphi-Ansatz relevante methodische Probleme vorgestellt. Der Bericht schließt mit einem ausführlichen Anhang, in welchem die benutzten Instrumente dokumentiert werden.' (Textauszug)

Telephonabdeckung und Telephonbesitz in Finnland wurden im Januar 1996 zum Gegenstand einer eigenen Untersuchung. Im Festnetz ist die Telephonabdeckung von 94% in den frühen 90er Jahren auf 86% gesunken. Gleichzeitig ist die Verbreitung von Mobiltelephonen von 7% auf 42% gestiegen, was die Telephonabdeckung insgesamt erhöht hat. Nahezu alle Haushalte mit einem stabilen gesellschaftlichen Status und Haushalte außerhalb der Städte verfügen über einen Festnetzanschluss. Haushalte mit einer instabilen Position oder Menschen in marginaler gesellschaftlicher Position verfügen seltener über einen Festnetzanschluss. Ein-Personen-Haushalte verfügen über weniger Telephongeräte als andere Haushalte. Vor allem alleinstehende junge Männer haben eher Mobiltelephone als Festnetzanschlüsse. Die schnelle Ausbreitung der Mobiltelephone erfordert es, einige Bereiche der Umfrageforschung neu zu durchdenken. (ICEÜbers) "Telephone coverage and telephone ownership in Finland were explored by a specific survey in January 1996. The results show that telephone coverage, in terms of conventional phones, has decreased steadily from 94% in early 90s to 86%. Simultaneously mobile phone penetration has increased from 7% to 42% and therefore the combined telephone coverage has increased. Nearly all households with a stable position in society have a conventional phone and also households who live outside cities. Households with unstable position in society or people who have fallen outside the processes and institutions of the society have much fewer conventional phones. One member households had fewer phones than other households. Especially young men living alone had more frequently mobile phones than conventional phones. Because of the rapid increase of mobile phones, some areas of survey practise have to be reconsidered." (author's abstract)