Comparing responses from a paper-based survey with a web-based survey in environmental criminology

Abstract

This article aims to compare the pattern of responses obtained by a web-based and a paper-based survey used to investigate the transit safety of travellers in railway stations in Sweden. This aim is achieved by evaluating whether the response and the completion rates change as the surveys progress, assessing the effect of the survey mode on respondents’ answers (after controlling for the surveys’ internal consistency and differences in the samples), and the potential impact of the order of alternatives in multiple-choice questions on the responses. To carry out the study, a sample of 500 responses was taken from each population and later compared using a series of statistical tests. Findings indicate that despite the surveys’ high internal consistency, the prevalence of victimisation, fear of crime, and precautions detected in the web survey was higher than those found in the paper survey. The web survey shows a major drop just after the initial questions, while the paper survey shows a more stable pattern of responses, but was also affected by a single compulsory question that pushed the completion rate down. Finally, the order of alternatives in multiple-choice questions (fixed or random) did not affect the answers given by the respondents, providing a solid base for safety interventions in transit environments, regardless of survey mode. The article concludes by making suggestions for both research and practice.