Comparison of response patterns in different survey designs: a longitudinal panel with mixed-mode and online-only design
Abstract Background Increasing availability of the Internet allows using only online data collection for more epidemiological studies. We compare response patterns in a population-based health survey using two survey designs: mixed-mode (choice between paper-and-pencil and online questionnaires) and...
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doaj-4a066d2ca13e4308b5b49e4e262ef9002020-11-24T21:36:35ZengBMCEmerging Themes in Epidemiology1742-76222017-03-0114111110.1186/s12982-017-0058-2Comparison of response patterns in different survey designs: a longitudinal panel with mixed-mode and online-only designNicole Rübsamen0Manas K. Akmatov1Stefanie Castell2André Karch3Rafael T. Mikolajczyk4Department of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection ResearchDepartment of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection ResearchDepartment of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection ResearchDepartment of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection ResearchDepartment of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection ResearchAbstract Background Increasing availability of the Internet allows using only online data collection for more epidemiological studies. We compare response patterns in a population-based health survey using two survey designs: mixed-mode (choice between paper-and-pencil and online questionnaires) and online-only design (without choice). Methods We used data from a longitudinal panel, the Hygiene and Behaviour Infectious Diseases Study (HaBIDS), conducted in 2014/2015 in four regions in Lower Saxony, Germany. Individuals were recruited using address-based probability sampling. In two regions, individuals could choose between paper-and-pencil and online questionnaires. In the other two regions, individuals were offered online-only participation. We compared sociodemographic characteristics of respondents who filled in all panel questionnaires between the mixed-mode group (n = 1110) and the online-only group (n = 482). Using 134 items, we performed multinomial logistic regression to compare responses between survey designs in terms of type (missing, “do not know” or valid response) and ordinal regression to compare responses in terms of content. We applied the false discovery rates (FDR) to control for multiple testing and investigated effects of adjusting for sociodemographic characteristic. For validation of the differential response patterns between mixed-mode and online-only, we compared the response patterns between paper and online mode among the respondents in the mixed-mode group in one region (n = 786). Results Respondents in the online-only group were older than those in the mixed-mode group, but both groups did not differ regarding sex or education. Type of response did not differ between the online-only and the mixed-mode group. Survey design was associated with different content of response in 18 of the 134 investigated items; which decreased to 11 after adjusting for sociodemographic variables. In the validation within the mixed-mode, only two of those were among the 11 significantly different items. The probability of observing by chance the same two or more significant differences in this setting was 22%. Conclusions We found similar response patterns in both survey designs with only few items being answered differently, likely attributable to chance. Our study supports the equivalence of the compared survey designs and suggests that, in the studied setting, using online-only design does not cause strong distortion of the results.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12982-017-0058-2BiasHealth surveyInternetLongitudinal studyMixed-modeOnline |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Nicole Rübsamen Manas K. Akmatov Stefanie Castell André Karch Rafael T. Mikolajczyk |
spellingShingle |
Nicole Rübsamen Manas K. Akmatov Stefanie Castell André Karch Rafael T. Mikolajczyk Comparison of response patterns in different survey designs: a longitudinal panel with mixed-mode and online-only design Emerging Themes in Epidemiology Bias Health survey Internet Longitudinal study Mixed-mode Online |
author_facet |
Nicole Rübsamen Manas K. Akmatov Stefanie Castell André Karch Rafael T. Mikolajczyk |
author_sort |
Nicole Rübsamen |
title |
Comparison of response patterns in different survey designs: a longitudinal panel with mixed-mode and online-only design |
title_short |
Comparison of response patterns in different survey designs: a longitudinal panel with mixed-mode and online-only design |
title_full |
Comparison of response patterns in different survey designs: a longitudinal panel with mixed-mode and online-only design |
title_fullStr |
Comparison of response patterns in different survey designs: a longitudinal panel with mixed-mode and online-only design |
title_full_unstemmed |
Comparison of response patterns in different survey designs: a longitudinal panel with mixed-mode and online-only design |
title_sort |
comparison of response patterns in different survey designs: a longitudinal panel with mixed-mode and online-only design |
publisher |
BMC |
series |
Emerging Themes in Epidemiology |
issn |
1742-7622 |
publishDate |
2017-03-01 |
description |
Abstract Background Increasing availability of the Internet allows using only online data collection for more epidemiological studies. We compare response patterns in a population-based health survey using two survey designs: mixed-mode (choice between paper-and-pencil and online questionnaires) and online-only design (without choice). Methods We used data from a longitudinal panel, the Hygiene and Behaviour Infectious Diseases Study (HaBIDS), conducted in 2014/2015 in four regions in Lower Saxony, Germany. Individuals were recruited using address-based probability sampling. In two regions, individuals could choose between paper-and-pencil and online questionnaires. In the other two regions, individuals were offered online-only participation. We compared sociodemographic characteristics of respondents who filled in all panel questionnaires between the mixed-mode group (n = 1110) and the online-only group (n = 482). Using 134 items, we performed multinomial logistic regression to compare responses between survey designs in terms of type (missing, “do not know” or valid response) and ordinal regression to compare responses in terms of content. We applied the false discovery rates (FDR) to control for multiple testing and investigated effects of adjusting for sociodemographic characteristic. For validation of the differential response patterns between mixed-mode and online-only, we compared the response patterns between paper and online mode among the respondents in the mixed-mode group in one region (n = 786). Results Respondents in the online-only group were older than those in the mixed-mode group, but both groups did not differ regarding sex or education. Type of response did not differ between the online-only and the mixed-mode group. Survey design was associated with different content of response in 18 of the 134 investigated items; which decreased to 11 after adjusting for sociodemographic variables. In the validation within the mixed-mode, only two of those were among the 11 significantly different items. The probability of observing by chance the same two or more significant differences in this setting was 22%. Conclusions We found similar response patterns in both survey designs with only few items being answered differently, likely attributable to chance. Our study supports the equivalence of the compared survey designs and suggests that, in the studied setting, using online-only design does not cause strong distortion of the results. |
topic |
Bias Health survey Internet Longitudinal study Mixed-mode Online |
url |
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12982-017-0058-2 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT nicolerubsamen comparisonofresponsepatternsindifferentsurveydesignsalongitudinalpanelwithmixedmodeandonlineonlydesign AT manaskakmatov comparisonofresponsepatternsindifferentsurveydesignsalongitudinalpanelwithmixedmodeandonlineonlydesign AT stefaniecastell comparisonofresponsepatternsindifferentsurveydesignsalongitudinalpanelwithmixedmodeandonlineonlydesign AT andrekarch comparisonofresponsepatternsindifferentsurveydesignsalongitudinalpanelwithmixedmodeandonlineonlydesign AT rafaeltmikolajczyk comparisonofresponsepatternsindifferentsurveydesignsalongitudinalpanelwithmixedmodeandonlineonlydesign |
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