Abstract

As the mixed-mode survey is increasingly used, this study examines the response quality in a mixed-mode telephone and Web survey across different types of questions. Survey data were collected by telephone and Web from 273 members of a U.S. public broadcasting TV station’s members who donated to the TV station. We compared the participation rates of the telephone survey and the Web survey and the gain in responses using mixed mode surveys; the overall item-completion rate, the effect of question format, order, and type on item non-response rates of telephone and Web modes; and assessed whether demographic characteristics of respondents predict item non-response in different survey modes. Although the response quality in Web surveys was superior to telephone surveys in most types of questions by contents and formats, demographic questions were the ones with highest item non-response in Web surveys, but not in telephone surveys. We found survey mode was the single most significant and strong predictor of survey completion rate while other demographic variables such as age and education of respondents were insignificant. Implications for survey researchers trying to use either Web or telephone surveys or mixed-mode surveys economically and importance of preferred contact information are discussed.  

Key Words: Mixed-Mode Survey, Item Non-Response, Online Survey, Telephone Survey, Research Method

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*Weiwei Jiang is a doctoral candidate at the School of Media and Communication, Bowling Green State University, Ohio, U.S.A. Her research interests include mobile technology and PCs, media economics, and sex education in digital age.

**Louisa Ha, Ph.D., is Professor in the School of Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, U.S.A.  She is the editor of Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly.  Her research interests are media management, media technologies, international advertising, survey research specifically about audience behavior.

***Mohammad Abuljadail is a doctoral candidate at the School of Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, U.S.A. His primary research interests are international advertising, online communities and the marketing applications of new media.

****Saud A. Alsulaiman is a doctoral candidate at the School of Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, U.S.A.

^JCMRJournal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 9, No. 1, April  2017, 173 – 184