Conducting Web-Based Surveys of Government Practitioners in Social Sciences: Practical Lessons for E-Government Researchers

Although the use of surveys in social science research is not new, growing computerization and widespread availability of Internet access has made it increasingly possible to conduct these surveys online. However, populations in the social sciences - and particularly in e-government - are not always well defined, and their boundaries are fuzzy. Therefore, additional challenges need to be considered in the research process, extending from the initial planning stages to the survey administration and beyond. Based on the existing literature and our experience conducting a national Web-based survey on information sharing with public health and criminal justice practitioners, this paper highlights some of these challenges and presents a series of lessons useful for digital government research. The lessons highlight aspects related o the nature of Web-based surveys, as well as particularities of working with government practitioners.