A Comparison of Web and Mail Survey Response Rates

Abstract

The Internet (also called the World Wide Web or the Web) is increasingly looked at as a means of surveying the public (Couper 2000). Possible advantages of using the Internet include cost savings associated with eliminating the printing and mailing of survey instruments (Cobanoglu, Warae, and Morec 2001) as well as time and cost savings of having returned survey data already in an electronic format. For special populations that regularly use the Internet, the Web has been found to be a useful means of conducting research (Couper, Traugott, and Lamias 2001; Sills and Song 2002). In some instances, a mixedmode strategy has been suggested as a means for exploiting the advantages of Web surveys and minimizing nonresponse (Dillman 2000; Schaefer and Dillman 1998). To reliably use a mixed-mode strategy (e.g., mail surveys and Web surveys) or to select among alternative survey modes, researchers must understand and demonstrate the equivalency and complementarity, or relative strengths of alternative modes (Dillman 2000). Researchers have used survey response rates as one measure of equivalency. Some studies suggest that in populations with access to the Internet, response rates for e-mail and Web surveys may not match those of other survey methods (Cook, Heath, and Thompson 2000; Couper 2000). Apparent differences in response rates for Web surveys and mail surveys have many causes or explanations. One explanation for these differences in response rates may be the fact that less time and attention have been devoted to developing and testing motivating tools to increase Web survey response, compared to the time spent studying tools employed in mail surveys (e.g., the use of personalization, precontact letters, follow-up postcards, and incentives). The widely followed elements of the “tailored design method” for mail surveys (Dillman