1. No category

Feasibility of Using Web to
Survey at a Sample of
Addresses:
a UK ESS experiment
Ana Villar
City University London
MANY THANKS TO
NatCen team
Alison Park (UK ESS NC)
Maya Agur
Alun Humphrey
City University London team
Rory Fitzgerald
Lizzy Gatrell
Yvette Prestage
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RESULTS ARE VERY
PRELIMINARY AND SHOULD
BE TAKEN WITH CARE; DATA
WERE DELIVERED ONLY TWO
WEEKS AGO AND WE ARE
STILL IN THE PROCESS OF
CLEANING THE DATA.
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Study Design and Goals
Co-funded by the ESS (EC) and the ESRC
Feasibility of implementing a web-F2F survey using
an address-based sample
• Careful contact and communication design
• Within-household random self-selection
• Monetary incentives
Compare to ESS main stage F2F
Sequential:
Web then F2F (N = 500)
Web only (N = 1,500)
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Experiments
Within-household random self-selection:
• Asking household member with next/last birthday to
go to URL and complete survey
• Household informant fills out roster, respondent is
randomly selected
Incentive upon completion (choice between evoucher and postal voucher):
• £15
• £35
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Contact Protocol
Web stage (full sample):
•
•
•
•
Pre-notice letter
Invitation letter with £5 voucher and instructions leaflet
Reminder letter
Upon completion  Thank you + Incentive
F2F stage (mixed-mode subsample):
• Of the 500 sampled units from the subsample, those
who did not reply to web survey were contacted at
home by an interviewer following ESS protocol
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Pre-notice letter
Advance notification of
invitation
Survey topic
Advance notification of
unconditional incentive
Thank you
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Invitation/Cover letter
Reminder of previous letter
What the ESS is about;
“opportunity to have a say”
Legitimacy – NatCen/ESRC
Scarcity; refer to leaflet
Enclosed incentive and
conditional incentive
Thank you, signature,
confidentiality assurance
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Instructions Leaflet:
Household Roster
Survey topic
Who is the respondent
How to + incentive
URL and unique ID
Smartphone not allowed
Privacy assurance,
password, thank you
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Instructions Leaflet:
Last/Next Birthday
Survey topic
Who is the respondent
How to + incentive
URL and unique ID
Smartphone not allowed
Privacy assurance,
password, thank you
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Household roster
Step 1 – Number of adults
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Household roster
Step 2 – Listing all adults
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Household roster
Step 3 – Confirmation of list
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Household roster
Step 4a – Computer selects HH informant
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Household roster
Step 4b – Computer selects another HH member
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PRELIMINARY FINDINGS
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Response Rates (RR1)
80%
70%
60%
55%
50%
39%
40%
Web
Web + F2F
30%
21%
20%
10%
0%
F2F
Response Rates
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(RR1)
Response Rates by Selection Method
HH ROSTER
(N = 1,000)
BIRTHDAY
(N = 1,000)
Followed link
NA
NA
Completed roster
NA
NA
21.1%
20.4%
20.1%
20.0%
19.2%
19.1%
Started (Q1)
Completes + Partials
Completed Web Survey
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Response Rates by Incentive
£15
(N = 1,000)
£35
(N = 1,000)
Followed link
NA
NA
Completed roster
NA
NA
19.4%
18.7%
18.5%
21.7%
20.9%
20.7%
Started (Q1)
Completes + Partials
Completed Web Survey
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No Interaction Effect
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Compliance with instructions (n = 112)
30% not applicable – single households or only
adult
50% comply
20% do not comply
Rest a combination of refusals, break-offs,
impossible to tell
So far number of “cheaters” is similar for both last
and next birthday
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Respondent Behaviour
Average duration: paradata not yet available
Typical number of sessions: 1
About half started before the first reminder was sent
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Gender by Mode
90%
80%
70%
60%
57%
60%
54%
50%
F2F
40%
Web
Web + F2F
30%
20%
10%
0%
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Female
Age by Mode
50%
44%
45%
40%
42%
36%
34%
35%
29%
30%
30%
27%
25%
F2F
21%
20%
15%
10%
Web
Web + F2F
11%10%
8%
10%
5%
0%
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15-24
25-44
45-64
65 or more
Years of Education by Mode
60%
49%
50%
42%
40%
30%
26%
27%
22% 22%
29%
24%
22%
F2F
Web
Web + F2F
20%
10%
7%6%
3%
11%
5% 6%
0%
Less than 9 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-19 years 20 or more
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years
years
Job Situation by Mode
80%
71%
70%
60%
54%
53%
50%
F2F
Web
Web + F2F
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Has a paid job
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Household Income by Mode
45%
39%
40%
35%
30%
35%
31% 31%
27%
30%
25%
25%
24%
F2F
22%
Web
20%
17%
15%
10%
6%
5%
2%
5%
4%
1%
0%
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Low
Medium
High
DK
Refused
Web + F2F
Political Interest by Mode
45%
40%41%
38%
40%
35%
33%
30%
27%
30%
25%
23%
20%
15%
15%16%
13%
12%12%
10%
5%
0%
Very interested
Quite
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interested
Hardly
interested
Not at all
F2F
Web
Web + F2F
Conclusions and Lessons Learned
It is feasible to get a substantial number of people to
complete an online survey
There seem to be some differences in sample
composition by mode
Costs and time necessary to program survey tend to
be largely underestimated
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Thank you
[email protected]
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Income by Mode (without item NR)
45%
40%
35%
30%
41%
39%
40%
34%
32%
28%
31%
28%
27%
25%
F2F
20%
Web
Web + F2F
15%
10%
5%
0%
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Low
Medium
High
Job Situation by Mode
80%
71%
70%
60%
53%
54%
50%
47%
46%
F2F
40%
30%
29%
20%
10%
0%
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Has a paid job
No paid job
Web
Web + F2F
Gender by Mode
70%
57%
60%
50%
40%
43%
60%
54%
46%
40%
F2F
Web
Web + F2F
30%
20%
10%
0%
Male
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Female
Economic Hardship by Mode
90%
81%
81%
80%
70%
70%
60%
50%
F2F
40%
Web
30%
30%
20%
19%
Web + F2F
19%
10%
0%
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Difficulties
Coping or Comfortable
Urbanicity by mode
90%
80%
79%
81%
74%
70%
60%
50%
F2F
40%
Web
30%
20%
21%
26%
19%
10%
0%
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Urban
Web + F2F
Rural
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Number of completes by date (roster)
50
45
40
Reminder sent
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
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Number of completes by date (birthday)
45
40
35
Reminder sent
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
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