<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Previous research is inconclusive regarding the effects of paper and web surveys on response burdens. We conducted an establishment survey with random assignment to paper and web modes to examine this issue. We compare how the actual and perceived response burdens differ when respondents complete a survey in the paper mode, in the web mode and when they are allowed to choose between the two modes. Our results show that in the web mode, respondents have a lower estimated time to complete the questionnaire, while we do not find differences between paper and the web on the perceived response time and perceived burden. Even though the response burden in the web mode is lower, our study finds no evidence of an increased response burden when moving an establishment survey from paper to the web.</p>
</abstract>

Previous research is inconclusive regarding the effects of paper and web surveys on response burdens. We conducted an establishment survey with random assignment to paper and web modes to examine this issue. We compare how the actual and perceived response burdens differ when respondents complete a survey in the paper mode, in the web mode and when they are allowed to choose between the two modes. Our results show that in the web mode, respondents have a lower estimated time to complete the questionnaire, while we do not find differences between paper and the web on the perceived response time and perceived burden. Even though the response burden in the web mode is lower, our study finds no evidence of an increased response burden when moving an establishment survey from paper to the web.

Comparing the Response Burden between Paper and Web Modes in Establishment Surveys

Journal of Official Statistics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Previous research is inconclusive regarding the effects of paper and web surveys on response burdens. We conducted an establishment survey with random...

Comparing the Response Burden between Paper and Web Modes in Establishment Surveys

Published Online: Dec 26, 2021

Page range: 907 - 930

Received: Sep 01, 2019

Accepted: Mar 01, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jos-2021-0039

Keywords
Perceived burden, experimental design, mode effects

© 2020 Georg-Christoph Haas et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Comparing the Response Burden between Paper and Web Modes in Establishment Surveys

Published Online: Dec 26, 2021

Page range: 907 - 930

Received: Sep 01, 2019

Accepted: Mar 01, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jos-2021-0039

KeywordsPerceived burden, experimental design, mode effects

© 2020 Georg-Christoph Haas et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Perceived burden, experimental design, mode effects