Nicole Rübsamen|Manas K. Akmatov|Stefanie Castell|André Karch|Rafael Mikolajczyk
Comparison of response patterns in different survey designs: a longitudinal panel with mixed-mode and online-only design
Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research|Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research|Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research|Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research|Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research
increasing availability internet allows using online data collection epidemiological studies compare response patterns populationbased health survey using two survey designs mixedmode choice paperandpencil online questionnaires onlineonly design without choicewe used data longitudinal panel hygiene behaviour infectious diseases study habids conducted 20142015 four regions lower saxony germany individuals recruited using addressbased probability sampling two regions individuals could choose paperandpencil online questionnaires two regions individuals offered onlineonly participation compared sociodemographic characteristics respondents filled panel questionnaires mixedmode group n 1110 onlineonly group n 482 using 134 items performed multinomial logistic regression compare responses survey designs terms type missing know valid response ordinal regression compare responses terms content applied false discovery rates fdr control multiple testing investigated effects adjusting sociodemographic characteristic validation differential response patterns mixedmode onlineonly compared response patterns paper online mode among respondents mixedmode group one region n 786respondents onlineonly group older mixedmode group groups differ regarding sex education type response differ onlineonly mixedmode group survey design associated different content response 18 134 investigated items decreased 11 adjusting sociodemographic variables validation within mixedmode two among 11 significantly different items probability observing chance two significant differences setting 22we found similar response patterns survey designs items answered differently likely attributable chance study supports equivalence compared survey designs suggests studied setting using onlineonly design cause strong distortion results