ISRD4 Internet Sample Germany: Lessons Learned

• In Event: ISRD Panel 5: Internet surveys of adolescent delinquency and victimization: Methodological and Substantive Findings from the International Self-Report Delinquency Project (ISRD4)

Abstract

In Germany a panel company has been used to collect data for the ISRD4 Internet Sample. One aim was to explore the viability of recruiting an online access panel of a survey company. Additionally the original questionnaire as prescribed by the ISRD4 Study protocol has been used with several experimental variants to investigate the effects of (1) using different online survey tools (LimeSurvey s. EFS survey), (2) including a progress bar, (3) the use of a “no answer” option, and (4) automatic vs. manual forwarding. The article will describe the experiences of using an online access panel by comparing to the alternative that uses a “river sample”, and report the effects of the four experimental conditions. Additionally, the impact on quality criteria such as number of person and item missingness, attention, straight lining and socially desirable responding will be presented. Implications of the findings for the validity of survey data and for future data analyses using Internet Sample data will be discussed.

Author

• Dirk Enzmann, University of Hamburg