Web-based and mailed questionnaires: a comparison of response rates and compliance

We assessed response rates and compliance for a printed questionnaire and a Web questionnaire in a Swedish population-based study and explored the influence of adding personalized feedback to the Web questionnaire. We assigned 875 subjects to 1 of 3 groups: printed questionnaire, plain Web questionn...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.) Vol. 16; no. 4; p. 577
Main Authors: Bälter, Katarina Augustsson, Bälter, Olle, Fondell, Elinor, Lagerros, Ylva Trolle
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 01.07.2005
Subjects:
Adult
Consumer Behavior
Cooperative Behavior
Diet Surveys
Feedback
Female
Humans
Internet
Male
Middle Aged
Postal Service
Surveys and Questionnaires - classification
Sweden
User-Computer Interface
Sweden
ISSN:1044-3983
Online Access:Get more information
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Summary:We assessed response rates and compliance for a printed questionnaire and a Web questionnaire in a Swedish population-based study and explored the influence of adding personalized feedback to the Web questionnaire. We assigned 875 subjects to 1 of 3 groups: printed questionnaire, plain Web questionnaire, or Web questionnaire with personalized feedback. The questionnaire had 2 parts, first a general section and then a dietary section. The response rate for the general section was 64% for the printed questionnaire, compared with 50% for the Web questionnaire with feedback. For the dietary questionnaire, the rates were reversed, resulting in a total response rate for the dietary questionnaire that did not differ between printed and web questionnaire with feedback. Interactivity in the Web questionnaire increased compliance in completion of the second section of the questionnaire. Web questionnaires can be useful for research purposes in settings in which Internet access is high.
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ISSN:1044-3983
DOI:10.1097/01.ede.0000164553.16591.4b