Premium
Print versus electronic surveys: a comparison of two data collection methodologies
Author(s) -
Boyer Kenneth K.,
Olson John R.,
Calantone Roger J.,
Jackson Eric C.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of operations management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.649
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1873-1317
pISSN - 0272-6963
DOI - 10.1016/s0272-6963(02)00004-9
Subject(s) - data collection , purchasing , computer science , the internet , electronic data , sample (material) , scale (ratio) , survey data collection , missing data , coding (social sciences) , data science , statistics , information retrieval , marketing , business , world wide web , geography , mathematics , chemistry , cartography , chromatography , machine learning
This paper compares the responses of consumers who submitted answers to a survey instrument focusing on Internet purchasing patterns both electronically and using traditional paper response methods. We present the results of a controlled experiment within a larger data collection effort. The same survey instrument was completed by 416 Internet customers of a major office supplies company, with approximately 60% receiving the survey in paper form and 40% receiving the electronic version. In order to evaluate the efficacy of electronic surveys relative to traditional, printed surveys we conduct two levels of analysis. On a macro‐level, we compare the two groups for similarity in terms of fairly aggregate, coarse data characteristics such as response rates, proportion of missing data, scale means and inter‐item reliability. On a more fine‐grained, micro‐level, we compare the two groups for aspects of data integrity such as the presence of data runs and measurement errors. This deeper, finer‐grained analysis allows an examination of the potential benefits and flaws of electronic data collection. Our findings suggest that electronic surveys are generally comparable to print surveys in most respects, but that there are a few key advantages and challenges that researchers should evaluate. Notably, our sample indicates that electronic surveys have fewer missing responses and can be coded/presented in a more flexible manner (namely, contingent coding with different respondents receiving different questions depending on the response to earlier questions) that offers researchers new capabilities.