Surfable Surveys: Using Web-Based Technology to Reach Newsroom Respondents

Abstract

This study deconstructs some of the challenges and successes in using Web-based tools to survey three groups of broadcast news personnel: news directors, producers, and show directors. In conducting two recent newsroom-based research projects, we found that Web-based survey methods offer many conveniences, including ease of design, the elimination of the data-entry phase of the project, and flexibility in question type, question order, and skip patterns. Although broadcast news personnel use a great deal of technology in their day-to-day work and are comfortable with Web interface, the use of this method in survey research didn't result in higher response rates. Significant follow-up communication to nonrespondents was still necessary. Another primary difficulty in the use of Web-based survey methods in newsrooms was the inability to easily access e-mail and contact information for potential respondents. The unspoken obstacle in newsroom survey research is the reluctance of industry professionals to dedicate time to research initiatives and the academic approach dictating certain protocols. On the basis of our experiences in fielding these two projects, several logistical suggestions for the creation and deployment of Web surveys are offered.