Can Online Surveys Represent the Entire Population?

Arbeitspapier

A general concern with the representativeness of online surveys is that they exclude the \"offline\" population that does not use the internet. We run a large-scale opinion survey with (1) onliners in web mode, (2) offliners in face-to-face mode, and (3) onliners in face-to-face mode. We find marked response differences between onliners and offliners in the mixed-mode setting (1 vs. 2). Response differences between onliners and offliners in the same face-to-face mode (2 vs. 3) disappear when controlling for background characteristics, indicating mode effects rather than unobserved population differences. Differences in background characteristics of onliners in the two modes (1 vs. 3) indicate that mode effects partly reflect sampling differences. In our setting, re-weighting online-survey observations appears a pragmatic solution when aiming at representativeness for the entire population.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Discussion Paper ; No. 117

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Survey Methods; Sampling Methods ; Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making‡ ; Education and Research Institutions: General
• Subject: online survey ; representativeness ; mode effects ; offliner ; public opinion

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Grewenig, Elisabeth ; Lergetporer, Philipp ; Simon, Lisa ; Werner, Katharina ; Woessmann, Ludger
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München und Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Collaborative Research Center Transregio 190 - Rationality and Competition
• (where): München und Berlin
• (when): 2018

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/185787
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET