Method and transparency of online physician surveys: an overview

Physician surveys are now commonly conducted online, although there is little information currently available regarding the practice of online survey research with health care professionals. We addressed this concern by conducting an overview and assessment of the methodologies disclosed in a sample of 200 published papers that report findings from web-based surveys of physicians. Fifteen methodological aspects of web surveys were coded from each paper, and a transparency index based on aggregation of these various indicators was constructed to evaluate overall survey quality. Some indicators, such as the source and type of samples, along with information regarding ethical aspects of protocols, were commonly reported. In contrast, the use of incentives, and discussion of potential coverage and processing errors were reported less frequently. We hypothesize that these reporting patterns may be dictated by journal requirements. As web surveys are destined to serve as an important modality for data collection from physicians and other health care professionals for the foreseeable future, it is important to encourage – if not require – researchers to regularly disclose a broader range of quality indicators when reporting their research findings.