Using web surveys to collect data from candidates: Experience from the 2019 Greek candidate survey. Tsigkou, M., Kartsounidou, E., & Andreadis, I. In ECPR General Conference 2020, 2020. ECPR.
Using web surveys to collect data from candidates: Experience from the 2019 Greek candidate survey [link]Paper  abstract   bibtex   6 downloads  
Web-surveys are being used more and more often in social sciences, as a fast and low- cost mode of data collection. However, there are some serious drawbacks which are mainly related to the absence of an interviewer such as low response rates. Furthermore, the length of the survey instrument affects considerably the response behavior. There is evidence that lengthy online questionnaires lead to lower response rates and lower quality responses. The aim of this paper is to study whether different web survey designs affect the response rate of a candidates’ survey. Specifically, during data collection for the Greek candidate study of 2019 we conducted three web experiments to test the impact on response behavior of: i) questionnaire length ii) web survey layout and iii) candidates recruitment. In order to test the impact of each factor we have manipulated the conditions of the survey in several ways. First, we divided the questionnaires into two or three parts in order to test whether shorter questionnaires increase response rate (splitting design). Second, we conducted an experiment on whether the layout of the survey affects the response rate. Specifically, there were two different designs of the questionnaire namely single page question and grid. Furthermore, some surveys were optimized for mobile devices to test if this affects the response rate. The final experiment is about the candidates’ recruitment. Most of the Greek candidate MPs have e-mail addresses which are available online especially during the period of electoral campaign. We collected their e-mail addresses using search engines and visiting websites related to the candidates or to the Greek elections in general. We also got in contact with the candidates whose e-mail could not be collected, through their Facebook pages and personal accounts.
@inproceedings{tsigkou_using_2020,
	title = {Using web surveys to collect data from candidates: {Experience} from the 2019 {Greek} candidate survey},
	url = {https://ecpr.eu/Events/Event/PaperDetails/54500},
	abstract = {Web-surveys are being used more and more often in social sciences, as a fast and low- cost mode of data collection. However, there are some serious drawbacks which are mainly related to the absence of an interviewer such as low response rates. Furthermore, the length of the survey instrument affects considerably the response behavior. There is evidence that lengthy online questionnaires lead to lower response rates and lower quality responses. The aim of this paper is to study whether different web survey designs affect the response rate of a candidates’ survey. Specifically, during data collection for the Greek candidate study of 2019 we conducted three web experiments to test the impact on response behavior of: i) questionnaire length ii) web survey layout and iii) candidates recruitment. In order to test the impact of each factor we have manipulated the conditions of the survey in several ways. First, we divided the questionnaires into two or three parts in order to test whether shorter questionnaires increase response rate (splitting design). Second, we conducted an experiment on whether the layout of the survey affects the response rate. Specifically, there were two different designs of the questionnaire namely single page question and grid. Furthermore, some surveys were optimized for mobile devices to test if this affects the response rate. The final experiment is about the candidates’ recruitment. Most of the Greek candidate MPs have e-mail addresses which are available online especially during the period of electoral campaign. We collected their e-mail addresses using search engines and visiting websites related to the candidates or to the Greek elections in general. We also got in contact with the candidates whose e-mail could not be collected, through their Facebook pages and personal accounts.},
	booktitle = {{ECPR} {General} {Conference} 2020},
	publisher = {ECPR},
	author = {Tsigkou, M. and Kartsounidou, E. and Andreadis, I.},
	year = {2020},
}

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